Caught In A Ladder
by Sinnatious
Summary: A chance encounter with Ogata and a slip of the tongue turns Hikaru into a victim of Sai's success. What is he supposed to do when even the truth won't save him?
1. Nigiri

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go does not belong to me, and I am in no way profiting from this piece of fiction.

Author's Note: Wow, it's been a while since I've written anything substantial other than a romantic comedy. It's probably going to take a few chapters to get back into the groove of writing… well, anything else. Either way, this fic is basically a combination of plot bunny exorcism and dissatisfaction with HnG's ending. There are a couple of techniques I'm using that I normally avoid but…like I said, there are plot bunnies that need to be freed so I can move on to other things.

Updates will occur approximately weekly – quicker or slower depending largely on the length of the chapter. Here's the prologue. Hope you enjoy. And don't forget to review! Reviews are what keep fanfic authors dedicated and on their toes.

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Caught In A Ladder**

Prologue – Nigiri

By Sinnatious

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Shindou Hikaru sat in his bedroom, eyes transfixed on the headline of Go Weekly. 'TOUYA MEIJIN RETIRES'. He'd been staring at the front page for at least twenty minutes after picking up the magazine on his way home. 

The entire Go world had been shocked. It was a disaster. And he was responsible. Was this sort of debacle worth allowing Sai and the Meijin to play that game on the internet? On one hand, being able to be there, being the proxy hand that made those amazing moves was an experience he'd never forget, but on the other guilt and anxiety gnawed at him every time he gave the issue any thought. It didn't seem right that he get away with it so cleanly – any moment, he was sure that game was going to come back and haunt him in some way. If it hadn't sealed his fate already – both Akira and Ogata had seen him at the hospital, and had obviously surmised that even if he wasn't Sai himself, he at least had a connection to him. He'd escaped, but he was dreading the next encounter with either of them. Especially Ogata. The man had been so insistent – the teen really didn't know what might have happened if Akira hadn't happened along when he did.

"Hikaru!" his mother's voice called through the door.

"What is it?" he replied absently, still staring at the magazine.

"Come down to dinner already! I've called you five times already!"

"Oh! Right, sorry. I didn't hear," he answered, shuffling the magazine to the side with the rest of his books. "Come on, Sai."

"_Coming, Hikaru," _the ghost replied, though his gaze lingered longingly on the magazine. To his surprise, his constant companion hadn't once demanded that he turn the page so that he could read more of the magazine as he normally did, seeming to respect his host's turmoil over the issue.

For that matter, the sho-dan mused as he headed down the stairs, the ghost had been in a strange mood ever since that game. He'd finally been able to play Touya Meijin, so maybe it was to be expected, but instead of his friend being on cloud nine for weeks like he thought he'd be, the thousand-year old ghost had seemingly sunk into something of an uncertain depression after the online match, being unusually moody and sulky. It was irritating, but the spirit obviously had something large on his mind, so he let him be and didn't ask prying questions. Considering they were together 24/7, such courtesies were the only privacies left to them.

His mother already had dinner completely set out on the table when Hikaru entered the kitchen. Just two places again, but since it appeared that his mother had cooked most of his favourites, Shindou obliged her with his presence instead of taking the food to his room as he normally did when it was just the two of them. She tended to cook his favourite foods when she wanted him to stick around for the meal.

The chatter was idle and one-sided for a few minutes as his mother nervously inquired about his work, and then awkwardly asked him about school. After they'd spent a few minutes on the familiar and ultimately meaningless ritual, she'd placed her chopsticks carefully to the side and pinned him with her best 'we're going to have a talk' expression. The bleached-banged teen gulped, mentally running through all of the possible misdemeanours he'd committed that his mother could have come to know about.

His fears of being lectured were swiftly allayed, fortunately.

"You know that your father had a promotion at his company recently, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Hikaru asked, still not entirely certain what it had to do with him.

"Your father's been asked to attend an important business conference overseas. And since you're working now," her mouth puckered a little at that, but she continued regardless, "We thought it might be a nice opportunity to take a bit of a holiday while we were at it. For about a month – he has quite a lot of holiday time saved up, and your father and I really haven't done anything like that since we were first married."

"That's really nice, Mom," Hikaru assured her, relieved that he hadn't done anything wrong after all. "It sounds like fun."

"I was going to suggest that you stay with your Grandfather, or that he comes here, but it turns out he's planning to go visit an old friend of his in hospital in Kyoto. Do you have a friend you could stay with? That boy, Waya, was it? Or Isumi?"

The sho-dan rolled his eyes skyward briefly as he contemplated that. "Isumi's in China, so that's definitely out. I could probably crash at Waya's, but I'd rather just stay here."

"I'm not so sure if I like the idea of any fifteen-year-old boy having the house to himself for that long," his mother clucked disapprovingly.

"Ah, you worry too much. I'll be fine! Besides, between school and the Institute, I'm never home all that much anyway."

"Well, if you're sure…."

"I'm sure, I'm sure! When are you leaving?" he asked, shovelling down the last few bites of his dinner.

"Tuesday."

Hikaru choked. "What? In only three days! That's awfully short-notice isn't it?" The teen was wide-eyed.

His mother's brow creased again. He seemed to be getting that look from her a lot recently. "We finalised the plans over a week ago, but you've been in and out so fast lately I haven't had the chance to tell you. Honestly, we hardly ever see you for meals anymore! Eating out all the time isn't healthy, you know."

Hikaru didn't bother pointing out that his father was home even less than he, merely waving it off, anxious to finish his meal and return to his room. "I said don't worry! I eat fine! You guys just enjoy your holiday and don't worry about me! Anyhow, thanks for the meal! I'm heading back up to my room to study." He gathered his empty dishes by habit and placed them by the sink.

"Don't stay up too late! You have a match tomorrow morning!" his mother called after him.

The young go pro grinned as he closed his bedroom door behind himself. Folding his arms behind his head, he looked back to the go-obsessed ghost shadowing him.

"_An entire month, Sai! We have to house completely to ourselves for an entire month!"_ Hikaru cheered. "Though cooking and cleaning will be a pain, I guess," he mused out loud.

"_Ne, Hikaru, we can stay up late and play Go all we want, right?" _Sai bubbled, temporarily coming out of his slump.

"_Idiot, we do that anyway."_ Continuing out loud, "Though at least I'll be able to talk out loud to you properly around the house without looking crazy." Sai could hear his thoughts when he projected them like speech, but the youth still felt more comfortable talking with his voice, and was prone to forgetting himself if he got into the conversation enough. More than once his mother had inquired about the racket he made in his room, and recently she'd started asking if he was having secret visitors that she didn't know about. The woman was probably wondering if he'd been sneaking a girl in, which if true would've made him a master magician, to make her disappear the instant his curious mother opened the door. The sho-dan chuckled to himself at that, imagining Sai's reaction. The ghost would be so affronted if he knew what his mother was always suggesting in her thinly veiled queries. A whole month of not having to worry about it was going to be relaxing. He liked his family well enough, but he was going to enjoy his privacy more. And with Sai around, it wasn't like he'd even get the chance to be lonely.

Shindou Hikaru went to bed that night feeling content, the anticipation of a month without his mother lecturing him about attending high school chasing away his earlier concerns about his secrets being exposed. He even managed to hold onto the content feeling right through his match the next morning. He'd played a 3-dan, and had won relatively easily, though reminded himself not to get too cocky. It was necessary to keep up that sort of winning streak if he wanted to catch up to Touya. The teen was sort of bothered that Sai hadn't commented on the game, though, irritated by his companion's increasingly swift and dramatic mood swings. Normally the ghost would be forthcoming with congratulations followed by a strict critique of all of his moves, but he'd remained silent and morose.

Since Sai was proving to be poor company, Hikaru found himself trailing after Waya as soon as the other boy finished his match. The redhead regularly dragged him along on outings now that Isumi was in China.

"I heard that Ogata-sensei and Morishita-sensei are scheduled to play a match in a couple of weeks," Waya whispered conspiratorially as they fetched their shoes from the lockers near the entrance. "Morishita-sensei is going to be absolutely unbearable if he loses."

"Ugh, Ogata, yeah," Hikaru replied distractedly, shuddering as the good feeling he'd been enjoying all morning vanished at the reminder that he still hadn't figured out what he was going to do when he saw the Jyudan titleholder, and a large part of him was dreading their next meeting. He sincerely hoped that the blonde man had just forgotten about the incident at the Meijin's hospital, but doubted it. It didn't seem like the usual 'deny everything' tactic would work this time. Thinking up some sort of plausible story was the next step. It helped that Ogata just thought he merely knew Sai. Maybe he could spin a story that he only knew Sai online, and that he'd set up the match there?

"Shindou? Shindou, are you listening?" the other sho-dan asked, annoyed.

"Um, sorry, I missed that. You were saying?"

Waya rolled his eyes, but continued regardlessly. "Touya-Meijin, dummy! Morishita-sensei's been pissed ever since he retired, because now he thinks they'll never get to resolve their rivalry! It's like he thinks beating Ogata will at least get the Meijin's attention."

"He's not Meijin anymore, Waya," a third voice chimed in from behind.

"Gah, Ochi, when did you get here?! Don't scare me like that!"

Hikaru tuned them out, turning those words over in his head. He still felt responsible for the Meijin's retirement – why did the old man have to go make some crazy bet like that?! He'd never asked for it, dammit! He just wanted him to play Sai seriously!

He shook his head as though to clear it. That wasn't something that could be changed. Better just to concern himself on improving his game and figuring out a good alibi for whenever he next saw Touya or Ogata.

"Shindou. Oi, Shindou!" Waya yelled.

"What?!"

The other sho-dan jerked his head at him, eyebrow twitching in irritation. "Stop spacing out, already. Let's get going."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he replied nonchalantly, dragging his feet after his friend and giving a polite nod to Ochi. He didn't particularly like the other pro – though that was more due to the fact that the other teen didn't like him - but they had been Insei together and he was a pretty good player, so deserved at least basic courtesy.

Hikaru and Waya spent the afternoon wandering around town, eating burgers and discussing Go. They ran into Nase and one of the new Insei that had joined after they'd left – some girl a couple of years older than them who had stars in her eyes when they'd been introduced as newly minted pros. Hikaru excused himself when talk moved to his sho-dan series match with Touya Meijin, and spent the rest of the afternoon doing his homework, seeing as he actually had to go to school the next day. Sai sat quietly in the corner, which while helpful in allowing him to concentrate on his non-history based homework, was supremely unsettling once said homework was finished.

Getting ready for bed, he turned to his ghostly companion. "Sai…. Is something bothering you? Just come out and say it if there is already!"

The Heian-period ghost looked startled at his words, before turning away and replying, _"It's nothing, Hikaru. I don't know for sure, anyway."_

"Don't know what?"

Sai didn't respond, so he shrugged and flicked off the light, annoyed. "Fine, be that way." After all the trouble he went through because of spirit, too.

Sleep didn't come easy that night, however, and Hikaru wasn't certain whether it was from guilt for snapping at his friend, or anxiety over what might happen if his secret were ever revealed.


	2. Unlucky Encounter

Author's Note: The story starts in earnest. I know I said updates would probably be weekly, but today is a public holiday, so lucky you! Don't get used to it. :)

Thanks to the people who reviewed, even though the prologue was mostly groundwork and not much was happening. Uh oh, a word of advice: Don't get excited about a potentially complex plot – like I said, this is an angsty plot bunny that I couldn't get out of my head any other way. Also, Ogata fans should probably not read. Crap, I need a warning!

WARNING: This story is rated T for violence and mild language. And Ogata-lovers are probably best advised to stay away, too.

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Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 1 – Unlucky Encounter

By Sinnatious

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The Shindou household was quiet that morning. Quiet to everyone except its sole living occupant, that was. 

"_Hikaru, wake up! You have a match today!"_ Sai beseeched his young host.

"Nnnnnhhhnnn," came the incoherent reply.

"_Hikaruuuuuuu!"_

"G'way."

"_WAKE UP, HIKARU!"_

"AAAAAHHHH! I'M UP, I'M UP ALREADY!" The teen sat up straight in bed, hands clasped over his ears. "Jeez, Sai, what's the big deal?"

"_You're going to be late!"_ the ghost replied, crossing his arms huffily.

"What? No I'm not! It's only 6:40! My match isn't until ten! I don't have to get up for another hour!"

The go-obsessed spirit squinted at the clock. _"Are you sure?"_

"Of course I'm sure! You got the hands mixed up again! Really! I thought by now you'd at least know how to read the time on a modern clock!"

"_Oh, I see! I'm sorry, Hikaru! This is very different from the sundials we used in Heian era. I still get them mixed up sometimes."_

"Honestly, you're a genius at Go, how can you be so slow with everything else? Didn't they have clocks back in Shuusaku's time?" the sho-dan complained.

"_They had them, but Torajiro never used one."_

Running a hand tiredly through his two tone hair, Hikaru let loose a suffering sigh. "Oh well, I suppose I'm awake now anyway. May as well get ready."

The youth shuffled through his morning routine, turning the television on for Sai – normally something that couldn't be done without his mother nagging him about leaving it on when he wasn't even in the same room. He opened the pantry, then the fridge, finding them both looking a little sparse. His mother had left some food behind for him while she and father went overseas, but their departure had been nearly four days ago so most of it had already been eaten. "Hmm, guess I'll have to eat out. Better remember to pick up some more stuff after my match. Hey, Sai, we're leaving early!"

The walk to the station was unusually peaceful – it was a nice day out, and Sai seemed content to admire the fine weather, rather than pester his charge as he normally did prior to a match. Then again, the youth mused, the ghost was still suffering wild mood swings since his match against the newly retired Touya Meijin, so it was hard to tell exactly what it was that was going through his mind recently. Maybe if he visited that internet café again and let Sai play a quick match or two after they were finished at the Go Institute that would cheer him up.

First, though, Hikaru had his own games to attend to. His reputation had suffered terribly from that game he'd played in the sho-dan series, and he had every intention of repairing it. If he worked hard enough, he reasoned, he'd get to play high-dans all the time, and people would be less likely to think anything of it if he let Sai play more regularly.

Two and a half hours later he left the Institute again with a spring in his step, breathing a sigh of relief. It had been the second time he'd played a 3-dan, and while the match had been difficult, he'd managed to pull in a narrow win. It was his opponent's fault, really, for going too easy on him during the start game – he'd obviously underestimated him, and as such hadn't been aggressive enough. Though the more experienced pro had skilfully narrowed the lead towards the end, the sho-dan was able to keep his game tight enough to secure a win.

The teen smiled to himself. He was more than pleased with his current progress – he hadn't thought that he'd be able to take on 3-dans so soon! Though it would be foolish to get overconfident, he reminded himself. After all, Touya had been taking on higher-dans and still winning recently. If he wanted to catch up, this sort of pace was necessary.

Breaking out of his thoughts, the young go player let his eyes wander to the right, where Sai stood quietly by his side, staring off into space. Really, it was something of a miracle he'd been able to concentrate all day with that sour mood practically pouring off of his invisible companion.

That was right… he had the afternoon free. _"Hey, Sai, we have some time – want to go play at an internet café?"_

Immediately, the ghost's attention was switched on to him. _"You mean it? You'll let me play?"_

"_Sure. You haven't had the chance to play against someone other than me since that match against Touya-Meijin, right? You've probably improved lots! Not that anyone would be able to tell, at your level."_

Sai laughed, causing Hikaru to smile in turn. It seemed like a long time since he'd last heard the sound, now that he thought about it. _"Let's go, Hikaru! Let's go right now!"_

"_Okay, okay, don't worry! There's a net café a couple of blocks away. I don't want to go to the one next to the station, in case somebody sees us."_

"_Fine! I don't care! Let's go now! I get to play Go!"_

Hikaru shook his head as they headed away from the Institute. Honestly, the way the ghost was acting it was as though he thought he'd never be allowed to play Go again.

They arrived at the net café and settled down to play some Go. Shindou fortunately knew about computers now to be able to navigate his way through NetGo quickly even without Mitani's sister's help, though he still refrained from typing anything. Sometimes he really wanted to thank a player on Sai's behalf for an excellent game, or discuss it as was his reflex, but after he'd learnt about his alter ego's notoriety he'd become paranoid about even logging on, much less leaving any sort of message, fearful that it might leave a clue to his identity. Waya had, after all, deduced an awful lot just from his one cheeky comment to the then-anonymous Zelda.

Fortunately, there were no dramas or interruptions in these go sessions. After three hours, Hikaru had spent his spare money, and had to leave.

"_You've really become an internet legend Sai," _the half-blonde teen mused as they left the internet café, making an idle note that he'd forgotten to eat lunch. _"We must have had about fifty challenges the instant we logged on!"_

"_It's only a shame that none of the players we accepted challenges from were very good,"_ Sai complained. _"Most of the matches didn't even last half an hour."_

"_Hey, you can't play Touya Kouyo every day of the week! And they weren't that bad – you just got stronger after your last match, is all. I doubt that I could have beaten that second guy."_

"_No, you could have. You've become stronger again, Hikaru. Your match today was excellent!" _the ghost congratulated the young pro enthusiastically.

Hikaru smiled, pleased that his companion's spirits seemed to be back to normal, at least for a while. It had been a good idea to stop by the internet café. _"Still have a ways to go before I can beat you, though, huh?"_

"_Beat me? Never!"_

Laughing, the teen headed towards the train station. Paying attention to his conversation with Sai, he wasn't looking where he was going, until-

"_Hikaru, look out!"_

"Huh? Ack!" The young pro leapt to the side to avoid crashing into a running business man…. Only to collide with someone else instead. He landed on his backside hard. "Ow! Ah, hot, hot!" Just his fortune, the person he'd run into had been carrying hot coffee, and it had been splashed all over him.

"You kids just never look where you're going these days, do you?" drawled a familiar voice above him.

Startled, Hikaru caught sight of the fine leather shoes and white pants leg. With growing horror, he raised his gaze to meet the cold, bespectacled gaze of one of the last people he wanted to see.

"Um… Ogata-sensei?"

"Ah, Shindou Hikaru. What are you doing around here?" The elder man made no move to help him up, so Hikaru stood on his own, dusting himself off and inspecting the coffee stain that now adorned his shirt, skin still stinging from the burning liquid. Thank goodness he hadn't been wearing his best.

"Oh, I was just playing Net Go in the café over there," he responded absently, then clapped a hand over his mouth. "Shit!" His tendency to just say stuff without thinking was going to be the death of him someday!

"_Hikaru!"_ Sai berated him.

"Internet Go?" the Jyudan asked suspiciously. "What's your screen name?"

Panic gripping him, the teen's mind raced furiously for a handle, his anxiety causing him to come up blank. Finally, he blurted the first name that came to mind. "Zelda! My online name is Zelda!"

"Is that so?" the elder pro regarded him at length, causing the teen to break into a light sweat. The memory of the incident at the hospital still hadn't left his mind. Ogata had too good a poker face to figure out what he was thinking, and there was a intensity about the man that made him nervous. This extended silence couldn't possibly bode well for him. Could he just run again? He was reluctant to do so, as that would probably only further cement the man's suspicions against him, and given that Ogata HAD been his sponsor to get into the Insei program, he owed the pro at least some respect. Running away once could be explained – twice could not.

Finally, the elder put his hands in his pockets, saying, "Sorry about the coffee. Are you hurt?"

Hikaru let out a breath he hadn't realised that he'd been holding. It looked like the Jyudan title-holder was simply dismissing the matter. "No, it burnt a bit, but I think I'm fine. It was sort of my fault anyway."

"That's true, but it would be rude of me not to offer some assistance. I don't live too far from here – you can clean up at my place."

"Um…. I think it'll be fine. I was about to head home anyway." He might have wriggled out of his blunder, but he still didn't feel entirely comfortable around Ogata.

"No really, I insist. Come, my car is just around the corner. I'll even drive you to the station when you're done." The elder pro's hand clasped itself around his wrist, and he started tugging the youth along.

"Ah, Ogata-sensei! But…"

"I simply won't take no for an answer. Ah, here we are."

Hikaru was momentarily distracted from his protests by the sight of the flashy red car in front of him. "Oh, um, nice car."

Ogata didn't respond, unlocking it and opening the passenger door for the youth. Awkwardly, and not able to find any polite way out of the situation, Hikaru reluctantly complied, climbing in, fastening his seatbelt and settling himself as the Jyudan closed the door and hopped in the driver's side.

The journey to the apartment was short, but felt painfully long in the uncomfortable silence. Rather, it was uncomfortable for Hikaru - the elder pro didn't seem interested in making conversation, instead appearing to be thinking about something else entirely with such intense concentration that more than once the teen wondered if he was even paying attention to the road. Rethinking a match, perhaps? He didn't dare ask. Sai seemed to enjoy the car ride, at least, something he rarely got to experience, but was astute enough to respect his host's discomfort and not bother him with questions.

They pulled up outside of a new-looking apartment complex that had obviously just been refurbished, if the number of 'To Lease' signs were any indication. Still, it looked up-market, and in this suburb… Hikaru didn't even want to contemplate what the rent was, though it was possible - given his age - that the Jyudan actually owned his apartment.

"This way," Ogata said curtly, making his way into the foyer and jabbing his finger on the button to call the lift. The sho-dan followed almost meekly, feeling terribly out of place and perhaps even slightly affronted at the elder's brusque attitude. If he didn't want to help, then why had he been so insistent on dragging him here?

Either way, he'd just wash up and leave as soon as possible. He cursed to himself – it was as though fate was mocking him, having the Jyudan appear before him like this when he'd spent the past week fretting over their next meeting.

The elevator stopped at the fifth floor, and Ogata led him down a wide hallway to the door at the very end. They only passed two doors on the way, which had to mean that the apartments were all quite spacious – though that depended on how many bedrooms there were, admittedly.

"Here it is." The Jyudan fiddled with the lock, swung the door open and ushered him into the apartment, flicking on a light switch as he did so and pulling the door shut behind him. The sho-dan absently slid his shoes off, gazing around the apartment as Ogata disappeared into what he assumed was the main bedroom. His eyes wandered to an aquarium, then to the shelves filled with books, then over to the computer sitting on a neat desk. Did Ogata play Net Go? If he could find out his online name, he might be able to arrange a match for Sai after all.

The white-suited senior re-emerged from the bedroom a moment later. "Bathroom is through there," Ogata indicated, throwing the youth a spare shirt. "You can have that."

"Um, are you sure?" Hikaru asked, holding up the garment nervously. It was a plain white button up shirt, not unlike the ones his father wore to work.

"Sure. I outgrew it years ago – should have thrown it out, really."

"Oh, okay. Thanks. Excuse me." The teen hurried into the bathroom, closing the door behind him before removing his coffee-stained shirt. Turning on the tap, he washed his face before towelling himself dry.

"_Ne, Hikaru, are we going to play Go?"_ Sai asked excitedly.

"_Of course not, Sai! I'm just cleaning up, then we're out of here!"_

"_Please, Hikaru! He's one of Touya Meijin's challengers! How often will an opportunity like this turn up?"_

Ignoring his persistent host, Hikaru tested his skin tenderly. Fortunately, the coffee hadn't been that hot, so the burns didn't look serious – even though the skin was still tender to the touch, it didn't sting at all anymore, and the red marks would probably fade in a couple of hours. He shrugged the white shirt on, frowning as he buttoned it up – it was still about two sizes too big, but at least it was better than wearing something damp and coffee-stained home in the cool weather.

"_Hikaruuuuu!"_ Sai beseeched him.

"_No, Sai! Stop asking!"_ He checked himself one last time in the mirror, and finding himself presentable once more, unlocked and opened the door. "Thanks Ogata-sensei. I'll be going now. You don't have to worry about driving me to the station – there's one only a couple of blocks from here, after all," the sho-dan called out as he left the bathroom.

He was surprised to find Ogata waiting for him, casually leaning against the front door as he lit a cigarette. "Leaving so soon?"

Something about the man's posture and tone of voice made Shindou nervous. Clutching his left arm, he took an unconscious step backwards.

"_Hikaru? Is something the matter?"_ Sai asked curiously, looking between the two.

Shindou shifted from foot to foot restlessly. Something was off. Go had honed his instincts, and right now, he was started to get the same sort of sensation that he experienced whenever he was being out-manoeuvred in a game. "I really should get going, Ogata-sensei."

"No."

Uneasiness was steadily growing in the pit of the teen's stomach. He forced himself to stand his ground as the Jyudan moved from the door and began walking towards him. "And why not?"

"Because your screen name isn't Zelda."


	3. Trapped In Your Own Design

Author's Note: Hmm, not much to say about this chapter. Thanks to all the people who reviewed, even if it was just to ask for another chapter (lol). Also, please ignore any minor incongruities with the canon. I'm aware of most of them, but chose to exercise poetic license, seeing as this fic is essentially AU post-Meijin's retirement, and given that this is basically just some fun scribbling for me to work on during my lunch hours I wasn't inclined to put in too much research. Yeah, sloppy of me, I know. All the same, I hope you enjoy it.

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Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 2 – Trapped In Your Own Design

By Sinnatious

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Hikaru froze. Forcing himself to don a disarming smile, a little too slow to be convincing, he stammered, "Wh-What makes you think a thing like that, Ogata-sensei? Of course I'm Zelda." 

The blonde man took a long drag on his cigarette, before replying, "There was a big racket about an internet player named Sai at a Go convention for amateurs I attended about two years ago. That other new pro was there – he mentioned in passing that his online handle was Zelda. Which means that you're lying. And that, of course, begs the question of why exactly Shindou Hikaru, a newly anointed pro, needs to lie about his online nickname?"

"I… you must be mistaken. Maybe you heard wrong…"

"No, there's no mistake. He was the only person Sai ever spoke to, so I made a point of remembering. He also had an interesting theory that Sai was a kid, based on his response and the fact that he was online all day during the Summer Holidays. Besides, I've seen him play online, and they're nothing like the matches I've seen you play."

The teen just shrugged, trying not to show his growing discomfort. "So what? So I lied about my online nickname. Would you really want everyone to know yours?"

"Heh, there's more to it than that, I think," Ogata drawled. He paused for a long moment, regarding the youth with heavy eyes, before finally saying, "You're Sai, aren't you?"

Time seemed to stop.

"_Hikaru, what do we do?"_ Sai asked.

The youth didn't have an answer for him, panic beginning to set in again as Ogata continued his monologue without even waiting for a response. "It's been bugging me for a while – that whole matter of Touya Kouyo asking for no visitors to be permitted on the day of his internet match with Sai. It must have been a prearranged match, thus it had to have been organised by somebody who both learned that he was playing internet go, and visited him in hospital. That's precious few people. And after overhearing part of your conversation with him... even if the Meijin denies it, I know it had to be you."

Hikaru took another step backward, unconsciously shaking his head in denial. Ogata merely pressed forward.

"You know, back then I was still convinced that you and Sai merely had some connection – maybe that he was your master, or friend. It didn't quite fit, though. Even though that answered some of the questions, it didn't solve all of the mysteries. Such as how it was you defeated Touya Akira not once, but twice, two and a half years ago in that Go Salon – Touya never showed anyone the matches, but given his obsession over them, it wasn't hard to figure out that he had come across someone far above his level – remarkable in itself. At the time, I didn't follow up on it, assuming that such a strong player would inevitably show themselves." The youth kept stepping backward as Ogata moved forward with each sentence. He stopped, feeling the wall press against his back.

"But then there was also that incident at the Children's Go Tournament, and your half-played match against Touya Meijin. Alone, none of these events count for much, but together… it's reached the point where the only scenario that makes any sense is if you were Sai yourself. And then you lie about your screen name… It leaves only one question - why would you hide that sort of skill? Why would you pretend to be mediocre? And why would you play your sho-dan series match against Touya Meijin as though YOU were the one with the handicap?"

Hikaru cringed slightly at that. Of course, Ogata saw it, mouth curving into a slight smile. "Oh yes, I was watching that match. Twenty minutes on the first move - that's not planning a move, that's having an emotional struggle. If you were Sai, you would be torn between actually playing a proper match against the Meijin, and blowing your cover. Nothing would turn more heads than a sho-dan defeating the holder of five titles. What would be a compromise in that situation? Play the match with a huge handicap, so that you'd be forced to play differently. To anyone unaware of the handicap, it looks like a terrible game. But the minute you factor the handicap in, it becomes remarkable, even if you did ultimately lose. I'd like to claim credit for noticing that, but it was Kuwabara who saw it first, so it certainly wasn't just my imagination."

The sho-dan was trapped, and damn near hyperventilating. The Jyudan was so close to the truth, yet still wrong. It didn't matter - how the heck could he convince the man that he wasn't Sai?

In the background, the ghost in question had gone eerily quiet, watching the exchange with the same sort of eyes he wore when observing a game of Go. Hikaru quashed the urge to ask the ghost who he thought would win, almost certain that he wouldn't like the answer.

"That's a very interesting theory, Ogata-sensei, but I'm not Sai. Nerves just got to me in my sho-dan series game." He had to say SOMETHING, otherwise the blonde man's suspicions would just be confirmed. Dammit, he'd thought he'd covered his tracks so well!

"Possibly, but nothing explains those two games you played with Akira, or why you would feel the urge to lie about your online screen name." Ogata took another long drag on his cigarette as though to accentuate his point.

"But you said it yourself, sensei - if I was Sai, why would I bother with being an Insei and playing low-level pros?"

"And that's the only mystery. But you're the only one who can answer that."

The sho-dan laughed, hoping that it didn't sound as forced as it felt. "That's a good one, Ogata-sensei. I mean… me, Sai, that's just ridiculous."

Ogata didn't take the bait though. "Yeah, I thought so too for a while. But I'm just starting to think you're a very good actor."

Feeling cornered, Hikaru made a move to step around his elder. "I don't have time for this. Who cares about Net Go anyway? Excuse me, sensei, but I really do need to get going."

Ogata's hand shot out, slamming to the wall near his face and effectively blocking his path. "Did I SAY you could go?"

"You…. You can't keep me here!"

"I can't? I'd say I can, until you co-operate. I want answers, Shindou Hikaru, and I'm not letting you leave here until I have them. I've seen your Go. Sai is hidden your moves."

The youth shook his head in denial, but made no other move, suddenly apprehensive. Ogata couldn't REALLY keep him here, could he?

Was that so impossible, though? He'd been terrified of Ogata at the hospital… the man had practically assaulted him. Hand covering his mouth as his apprehension grew, he suddenly recalled the second time he'd met Ogata. The man had recognised him from the Children's Tournament in the street and had forcibly dragged him into the Salon to play Touya Meijin. That had practically been a kidnapping! There'd been bruising on his arm from the pro's grip for days afterwards, but he'd been so preoccupied with the possibility of Sai taking over his body – a notion that seemed ridiculous now – that he'd never given the entire exchange much more thought.

Ogata really was a scary individual, once he thought about it.

Ogata grabbed his shoulders so suddenly that Hikaru squeaked, but he was merely steered towards the couch and pushed down into a sitting position. The Jyudan took a seat opposite and folded his arms, cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. "Start talking."

Hikaru glared, finding his backbone again. "There's nothing to talk about. I'm not Sai. You came up with that wild theory all on your own."

"Then say nothing. But you're not going anywhere until you admit the truth."

The sho-dan glowered, but in a show of defiance remained stubbornly silent. Ogata took another drag of his cigarette and regarded him with cool brown eyes. The silence stretched on. And on. And on.

Neither of them were willing to budge. The teen was sorely tempted to make a run for the door, but Ogata had cleverly positioned himself between it and the youth. Even if it was getting late, the sho-dan refused to the break his silence. Ogata had to become bored of this game eventually.

Hikaru stared at the clock on the wall as Ogata took another long drag on his cigarette. The ticking of the second hand seemed abnormally loud in the tense atmosphere. They sat there in silent stalemate for over an hour, though it felt like a lifetime to the younger of the two. Even Sai hadn't dared break the stillness. It had already been mid-to-late afternoon when he'd run into the Jyudan, so the sun was starting to set, adding an eerie orange glow and long shadows to the apartment. The only other audible noise, aside from the clock and Ogata's breathing – he'd started his third cigarette - was the bubble of the filters in the fish tank next to the kitchen.

He fidgeted, finally deciding to break the silence, "Why won't you believe me?"

"Why should I believe someone who I already know is lying about their online screen name?" came the retort.

"I'm not Sai. You've seen my Go - even if you think Sai is hidden in my moves, you could say that about anybody who studied Shuusaku's kifu extensively. Their styles are similar."

Ogata at least seemed to pause and consider that. "A decent argument, but while Sai's game initially held many similarities to Shuusaku's play style, it changed over the two months he was playing on the internet. Your moves hide that style, not the style found in ancient kifu. Besides, your play style is only one piece of the puzzle. There are plenty of other clues that point to your true identity. Admit it, Shindou."

"There's nothing to admit!"

"So you keep saying. Do you think repetitive denial will be enough to convince me?"

"Look, you can't really think you can just keep me here all night. People will become suspicious if I just disappear. I still live with my parents, for one," Hikaru tried.

Ogata's brow furrowed, then he stood and strode towards the phone. "That's no matter. I'll just call them and tell them that you had a commitment come up with the Institute."

"No!"

"No? Then tell me what I want to know!" His captor's voice suddenly became much more threatening.

Hikaru bit his lip nervously.

The elder pro drew back, looking annoyed. Flipping through a thin book – the sho-dan recognised it from the Go Association – he started dialling a number.

Inwardly, the youth was panicking, but his mind had gone blank. What could he do to stop him?

The phone on the other end was ringing now. Ogata stood, tapping his foot impatiently, until finally the voice mail picked it up.

The fifteen-year-old cringed as his own pre-recorded message started to play back through the speakerphone. _"Hi, you've reached the Shindou household, this is Hikaru, I'm not in right now but if you leave a message, I might get back to you. If you're looking for my folks, they're overseas at the moment, and they won't be back for a month, so you'll have to call back then."_

The smile that spread across Ogata's face could be described as nothing other than sinister, the teen decided. He inwardly cursed his own stupidity for announcing on the damn phone that he was essentially completely on his own for an entire month. He hadn't really been thinking when he'd recorded that message, and now it looked like he was going to pay the price.

"It doesn't sound to me as though anybody is going to be expecting you. You'll be joining me for dinner. I don't suppose you'll grace me with a confession for desert?"

Hikaru clamped his mouth shut, but Ogata's irritation with him had now been replaced with smugness. He gestured the youth over to the kitchen table, and threw two packaged meals into the microwave.

Five minutes later, and the food was done. Hikaru ate his rather tasteless meal slowly, uncomfortably aware of the Jyudan's steady gaze on him, just waiting for him to spill his guts about Sai. Well, it wasn't going to happen!

They resumed their staring match after dinner ended. Sai tried speaking to him once or twice this time, but gave up when the stubborn youth didn't even mentally reply. The two Go players sat like that for some time, until Ogata suddenly glanced at the clock and frowned.

Hikaru blinked when the Jyudan suddenly stood and grasped his wrist, tugging him to his feet. He stumbled after the older man who led him to a second bedroom he hadn't noticed. With little ceremony, he shoved the surprised teen inside, who lost his footing and tripped, barely throwing his hands out in time to catch himself.

"We'll continue this in the morning. You can spend the night thinking through what you want to do," Ogata said as he closed the door.

Hikaru leapt up, running to it and trying to wrench it back open, but the telltale click of a lock had beaten him to it. He pounded on the door. "Let me out! You can't do this! This is a crime! Hey! Are you listening to me?! Hey! I want to go home! This isn't a joke anymore, Ogata!"

"I never once suggested I was joking. I'm serious, Shindou Hikaru," the muffled voice replied through the door. "You won't leave this apartment until you admit to me that you are Sai."

"Are you crazy?! Who would go to this sort of length over something like that! What can I do to convince you that I'm not Sai? Hey, are you listening? Hey!" Hikaru pounded on the door again, but received no response. He called out for several more minutes, exhausting his library of expletives, before eventually giving up, assuming that the Jyudan had either left or was ignoring him, and turned to inspect his surroundings instead, hoping to find some other way to get out.

Sai obviously felt that it was safe to start butting in again. _"Really, he is overreacting terribly. How rude, to just shove you in here like that! And not even an apology!"_

The sho-dan flicked on the light and contemplated the room carefully, only half paying attention to his invisible companion. The room was largely devoid of any features - obviously it was a guest room of some description, likely one that was rarely used. The walls were a faded light blue, and the contents seemed to be limited to an old, worn futon, a pair of sturdy wooden chairs, a pile of magazines and a cracked old go board. There was only a small window high up on the far wall – similar to the sort usually found in bathrooms. Optimistically, he dragged one of the chairs over to it, and tried to slide it open, before noticing that it was locked. And even if he could force the lock open, he probably wouldn't be able to get the flyscreen off it, and then there was a five-floor drop to contend with. So much for that idea.

Still, the elder pro must be rolling in money, if he could afford a whole extra room in which to dump his stuff in this suburb. Then again, the blonde haired man did drive a rather expensive-looking car, and was always wearing those designer suits. At one time Touya had quoted some of the almost absurd figures title-holders earned, he recalled vaguely. Apparently it wasn't an exaggeration after all.

_"Ne, Hikaru, there's a board! Let's play a game!"_ Sai suggested excitedly, pointing his fan at the weathered old goban enthusiastically.

_"Not now, Sai! I need to figure a way out of this place!" _Shindou glared at the locked door as though it were somehow personally responsible for his problems.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that there was no way out, but Hikaru spent a good ten minutes looking anyway. Eventually, he gave up with a sigh, sinking to his knees in front of the Go board. _"Fine, we may as well occupy ourselves while we wait. My turn to play black, right?"_


	4. A Game of Patience

Author's Note: A new chapter! YAY! I got off work an hour early unexpectedly, so here you go. I hope you like it. I don't quite understand the begging for updating, though. Here I thought I was being pretty good with the updating for once – clearly standards have risen:) Pity the readers of my previous fics – once they waited for six months! It was amazing that there were any reviewers left. Rest assured that this will not happen again.

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**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 3 – A Game of Patience

By Sinnatious

* * *

When Hikaru awoke the next morning, it took him a long moment to figure out where exactly he was. The futon was lumpy and musty and nowhere near as comfortable as his regular bed, and the room was dim and unfamiliar. He groaned as the events of the previous day started rushing back to him: Ogata deciding that he was Sai, and that he wasn't going anywhere until he admitted it. Then he'd thrown him in his spare room, locked him in, and he and Sai had played Go until midnight at which point he'd given up hope of the Jyudan having a change of heart and letting him out and tried to get to sleep. 

Rolling his head to the side, he spied a plate covered in cling wrap hosting some store-bought rice balls. Hikaru felt uncomfortable when he realised that Ogata had been in the room while he was asleep, but on the other hand, at least he'd been nice to enough to leave him breakfast. A quick glance at his watch revealed that it was already mid-morning - the Jyudan had probably gone ahead to the Institute. Irritation surged in him. He had a match that afternoon! The elder pro had better get back and let him out before he had to forfeit.

_"Sai?"_ he asked blearily. The ghost popped up in front of his vision almost immediately.

_"Hikaru! Good morning!"_

It was almost annoying how oblivious the go-obsessed ghost could be to his situation at times. _"Why didn't you wake me up when Ogata came in?"_

_"I tried! But you were completely out of it, Hikaru!"_

Sighing, the youth ran a hand tiredly through his hair. Admittedly he hadn't slept until the early hours of the morning, with his anxiety over the situation and the unfamiliar futon creating a mix that was not conducive to peaceful rest. He briefly contemplated going back to sleep, but he had no idea when the Jyudan would be back, and didn't want to miss him when he did arrive. Not that he knew what he was going to say to convince the other man to let the matter go. Ogata was certain he was Sai, and it didn't seem like he'd be able to do anything to make him think otherwise. He couldn't believe he'd made such a stupid blunder!

Hikaru voiced these thoughts to his companion as he grudgingly ate the cold rice balls.

_"You could tell him the truth,"_ Sai suggested diplomatically.

A scowl showed the ghost exactly what the sho-dan thought of that idea. "As if he'd believe it. Why do you think I've never told anyone about your existence? They'd lock me up in a loony bin, or start sending me to a psychiatrist or something. Heck, sometimes I'M not entirely sure you exist, Sai. How do I know you're not just a figment of my imagination?"

_"Hikaru!"_ the ghost objected, looking offended.

He grinned. "Just kidding. Of course I know you're real, Sai. All the proof I'll ever need is in your Go."

That seemed to placate his companion somewhat. _"Then maybe you could just say you ARE me? It's almost true."_

Polishing off the last rice ball, the sho-dan lay back against the bed, brow furrowed in thought. "But that would create a whole mess of its own. I don't really know what Ogata would do if I said I really was Sai." He mulled over the possibility for a moment before announcing, "I'll just keep denying it. He'll eventually give up, I'm sure. I haven't covered our tracks for this long to mess things up now."

_"Does this mean I don't get to play Ogata?"_ Sai asked with a pout.

Hikaru sat up, pointing an accusing finger at his companion. "You! You just want me to give the secret away so that you get to play all the time!" He laughed, shaking his head. "Ah, don't worry about it. I should have known. As usual, all you can think about is Go."

"_Do you want to play a game?"_

"May as well. Maybe it'll help me focus for this afternoon's match." The teen sunk back down in front of the goban, with Sai eagerly running and sitting on the other side of the board. Given their situation, the ghost was in remarkably good spirits, but then again that could have just been a holdover from being allowed to play online the day before. Or maybe he was still holding out for a game with Ogata. Either way, it was much better having a cheerful Sai for company than a morose one.

They played two games before Hikaru found himself paying more attention to his watch than his strategy. _"Hikaru, focus!" _Sai berated when he took an unreasonable amount of time for an obvious move.

The youth sighed, sitting back. _"Sorry Sai. But I'm supposed to be at my match in less than an hour. Where the hell is Ogata?"_

"_Do you want to finish this game later?"_ the ghost enquired.

Hikaru cast a baleful eye at his last few poor hands, and then replied, _"No point. I was going to resign in a couple of moves anyway. I might've been able to stage a comeback against someone else, but I don't have a hope when playing you."_

"_You really should still play with a handicap," _Sai informed him rather condescendingly. _"Or at least play black."_

The sho-dan glared. "But how am I suppose to be get better if I'm always playing with a handicap? Besides, our games have been getting closer for a while, and I need more practice playing white."

"_It's not as challenging for me, though."_

"Be patient! If I keep playing you like this, soon I'll be able to catch up so that I AM a good enough opponent for you, and you won't have to go chasing after Ogata Jyudan and Touya Meijin all the time!"

That silenced the ghost, who held his fan to his lips. Hikaru wasn't sure if his friend's expression was one of pleasant surprise or horror.

The faint sound of jingling keys outside tore the teen from those thoughts. "Ogata! He's back! Just in time, too. I'm going to be late!" He swept the stones from the old go board and scrambled to his feet, making his way to the door, stopping just in time to avoid running into it as the Jyudan swung it open.

"Oi, brat, you ready to confess yet?" he drawled.

The teen glared. "I'm sick of this. Let me out of here. I've got a match this afternoon, and I'm already late."

"You've got a string of wins. You can afford a forfeit."

"It doesn't matter if I can or can't! I want to go play!"

Ogata tilted his head, his glasses momentarily catching the light so as to force the sho-dan to squint. "In that case, we'll play a game."

That momentarily dumbfounded the youth enough so that he didn't protest when the Jyudan steered him from the bedroom to the table set up in the living room. A goban was now resting atop it – it was likely where Ogata replayed most of his games. When the teen had caught his wits again, he asked, "What?"

"We'll play a game. You can play me instead of going to the Institute. Surely I'm a worthier opponent than some other sho-dan or 2-dan? There. You can play black."

Hikaru crossed his arms stubbornly. "This is crazy. Just let me go play my match!"

Ogata simply smirked from the other side of the Go board. "You're not going anywhere until you play me."

"I don't want to play you! I'm not taking this anymore! I'm leaving!" he announced, moving to stand up.

"I SAID TO PLAY!"

The harsh snap of the Jyudan's voice coupled with his fist banging on the table were enough to cow the startled sho-dan back into his seat. They stared at each other for a long moment, eyes challenging, before the younger crumbled under the elder's gaze. The teen was not in a position of authority, and he knew it. Grumbling, Hikaru plonked down his first stone. "Fine."

"Perhaps I should clarify before we continue. I want to play you as Sai, not as the Shindou-pro we've become familiar with. I want to see your REAL strength."

_"What are we going to do, Hikaru?" _Sai asked, raising his fan to cover his face.

Clenching his teeth, the teen mentally replied. _"Nothing."_

_"But your match..."_

_"I know. It's irritating, but it can't be helped."_

"_So… I get to play?"_

"_No, I'm playing," _came the curt reply.

The ghost was silent after that, respectfully settling back to watch the game.

There was the rhythmic 'pa-chink' of stones being laid down one after the other, with an occasional pause as one of them – usually Hikaru – paused to think about the next move. There was no clock, but the pace was about the same as the standard matches held at the Institute, and despite the tense atmosphere the young pro felt himself slipping into a good state of concentration. For a few minutes there, he even almost forgot that he was playing a title-holder.

It was a particularly aggressive move that shocked him back into paying attention to his surroundings. He risked a glance at his opponent as he lay down each stone after that, hoping to extract some information from that poker face, and very nearly winced at the sight of the stormy frown.

Furthermore, Ogata seemed to grow increasingly angry as the game progressed and Shindou kept playing normally. The sho-dan felt that he played quite a good game, but there was no doubt that the Jyudan was much, much stronger. Normally, he gauged, if he played his absolute best and the Jyudan played poorly he _might_ be able to manage a lucky win with a reverse-komi, but in an even game he had not a chance. If he calculated it out to end game, it was no less than an eleven-and-a-half moku loss, and while that could possibly be reduced to nine-and-a-half moku, winning was an impossibility. "I resign," he said with a sigh.

Ogata regarded him with a glower across the table. The youth resisted the urge to flinch at the sight of the cold brown eyes pinning him down. Suddenly, though, the older pro broke into a cruel smirk. "Fine, if that's how you're going to play it, I'm willing to be patient. I'll wait as long as it takes. Let's play again."

"Huh? Aren't we going to discuss the game?"

"Why would I need to discuss the game with Sai? You are already well aware of your own 'mistakes'."

Hikaru clenched his fists. Sai tried to console him, _"I'll discuss it with you later, Hikaru. For now, are you going to play him again?"_

_"Does it look like I have a choice?"_

_"I can play," _Sai offered.

Hikaru didn't respond. He merely sighed. This time, they performed nigiri. He was black again.

He placed his first stone, saying as he did so, "You're wasting your time Ogata-sensei. I'm not Sai. I wish I could play like him, but I really can't."

"So you keep saying. But you can't hide your Go completely. Sai's game is hidden in your moves."

Hikaru was quiet at that. It was a huge compliment, really, but in this situation it was one of the last things he wanted to hear. That was something he couldn't really help. Sai had been his teacher - there were inevitably going to be a couple of similarities in how they played.

In the background, Sai was addressing Ogata pompously, ignoring the fact that the man couldn't see or hear him. _"That's because I taught him, you know."_

There was no reply other than the soft 'pa-chink' of stones on wood.


	5. Rules of the Game

Author's Note: Hmm, I'm managing a better update schedule than I thought I would. Maybe I should change it to twice a week? Nah, better to leave myself some slack. Anyhow, here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed – reviews are the only payment fanfic authors get, and a great motivation and inspiration to boot! Several of them made me LOL. And I shall do my best to respond to beseeching cries of the update crows.

Warning: This chapter contains violence. Hmm, could warnings be considered spoilers?

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**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 4 – Rules of the Game

By Sinnatious

* * *

A long afternoon passed with a cranky Ogata insisting that Hikaru play game after game with him, stopping only for a tasteless dinner and toilet breaks, until late in the evening. Shindou had then spent another night of fitful sleep on the foreign futon before being dragged out of bed again first thing in the morning to play another two games before the Jyudan had locked him back in the spare bedroom and disappeared off to the Go Institute. Hikaru was only just now coming to realisation that he'd been effectively kidnapped, and that Ogata really didn't seem intent on letting him go anytime soon. Despondent, the teen had leafed through the abandoned magazines and played a game with his resident go-obsessed ghost to kill the time, but quickly grew restless and angry. He paced back and forth in the room – which he'd now come to think of as his prison – with his fists working and teeth clenched. Intermittently he'd stop, swear, and bang on the walls and kick the door, more to vent his anger than anything else. 

"_Must you be so loud, Hikaru?"_ Sai sighed.

"_Looks who's talking,"_ came the snippy response. _"Besides,"_ he continued seriously, _"If I make enough noise, there's always a chance a neighbour will come and investigate, or call the police, or SOMETHING! Though if they could hear, you would have thought someone would have called by now….. Damn, why do these new apartments have to have such good insulation?!"_

"_Maybe no one's home,"_ the ghost suggested. _"Or they're wearing those ear muff things that play music. You could try again another time."_

Scowling, the youth replied aloud, "I'm not so sure kicking up such a huge fuss while Ogata's around is such a good idea, Sai."

"_Why not? What could he possibly do?"_

That was a valid point, but the young pro wasn't sure if he wanted to test it out – after all, he didn't exactly know WHAT Ogata might do. If he was willing to hold someone against their will, there was really no telling what else the man might be capable of. He was reluctant to push his luck.

"Gah, it's nearly been two days already! I want to go home!" Hikaru exclaimed, kicking the door for about the twentieth time in as many minutes. What kind of home had bedroom doors that locked from the outside anyway? Wasn't that supposed to be a fire hazard? "He's not even here!"

"_We could play some more Go to pass the time," _Sai suggested unhelpfully.

Habitually switching back to a mental conversation, the youth replied crankily, _"I can only be trounced so many times in one day."_

"_At least you didn't have any matches today."_

"_Yeah, but I did have school! I might not be planning on going to high school, but I'd like to at least graduate from middle school!"_ "Dammit it all!" he shouted out loud, kicking the door again.

He fell silent when the lock seemed to click. Almost entranced, his hand reached out, testing the doorknob experimentally. Amazingly, it turned, and the door swung open smoothly and quietly, as though personally inviting him to the room beyond.

Impossible. Had his repeated bashing of the door actually somehow magically jiggled the mechanism enough to unlock?

Shindou wasn't going to question his good fortune. Not wasting a moment, he dashed out into the living room, calling Sai after him. Almost giddy with the prospect of freedom, the youth scampered for the door, so desperate to get away that he didn't even remember to stop and put on his shoes. He spent a moment fiddling with the front door's lock – it was a bit tricky. Finally, he managed to unlock it, and pulled open the door with relief.

That relief turned to ice in his veins, though, when he realised that his path to freedom was blocked. Reluctantly, he raised his gaze from white designer slacks, to the blue button-up shirt, to the altogether too-familiar bespectacled face.

"O-Ogata!"

He didn't think he'd ever seen the other go pro so furious. The man reached out, gripping his shoulders hard, causing him to cry out in pain, before dragging him back into the apartment where he promptly backhanded him with a force that sent Hikaru falling to the floor.

"Just WHERE did you think you were going, huh?" Ogata shouted, towering over him. The youth sat back up, right hand cradling his stinging cheek, eyes wide.

Belatedly, the Jyudan slammed the door shut, Hikaru watching with mournful eyes as his path to freedom disappeared before him. Mere seconds later, though, Ogata was back at his side, pulling the teen to his feet.

"I've tried to be reasonable about this, but if you're going to try and escape, then fine! We'll do this the hard way." Grasping the boy's wrist, he half-dragged the stunned youth back towards the room that he'd left not even minutes before. Pushing the sho-dan into a sitting position on one of the sturdy wooden chairs, he left the room briefly, Hikaru still too dazed to even consider moving. When he returned the Jyudan was carrying…. Neckties?

The blonde pro sneered at the befuddled teenager. "You just insist on being difficult, don't you, Shindou? Well, I'll not have you running off without fulfilling your end of the bargain while I'm out." With those words, the elder man snatched Hikaru's right hand, and deftly twisted it behind the teen's back and chair.

"Ow, hey, stop it!" Mere discomfort turned into alarm when Ogata grabbed his left hand as well. The young go player struggled more fervently as he felt the fabric wrap tightly around his wrists.

The Jyudan didn't even pause, calmly finishing his task. Hikaru tried to kick him when he came back to the front of the chair, but the elder merely caught the foot that had been aimed at him and tied it to the chair leg with surprising speed, then repeated the process with the youth's remaining free limb.

With dismay, Hikaru strained against the knots, horrified to find them holding quite securely. He could shift in his seat a little, but that was the extent of his allowed movement.

Ogata looked somewhere between smug and annoyed as he lit a cigarette, clearly enjoying the boy's plight. "You're going to make me ruin at least three of my neckties, brat, happy yet?

"Why are you still keeping me here! It's been two days already! Let me go!" Hikaru demanded, wrenching against his bonds.

Ogata leaned forward, cigarette dangling between his lips. Hikaru found himself wrinkling his nose at the scent of tobacco. "I'll let you go… once you defeat me in a game of Go."

"What?!"

"Defeat me in a game of Go. If you play like Sai, it should be possible."

"How many times do I have to tell you?! I'M NOT SAI!"

"I don't believe you. That's the only scenario that makes any sense, even if it is in itself inexplicable."

"Makes sense to you, maybe! I don't see why I should have to put up with this just because of a bunch of weird coincidences!"

"Then why lie about your online name, then?" Ogata asked, leaning back and giving the teen his much-needed personal space back.

"Because I don't really play NetGo. I was just covering up the fact that I was looking at porn," he replied with a deadpan.

The blonde man chuckled. "I've discovered that you're an accomplished liar when you put your mind to it, Shindou, but your slip of the tongue was entirely natural. My offer stands. Defeat me in a game of Go, and I'll let you go."

"That's ridiculous! I only just became a pro! Hey, don't leave me tied up like this! This is kidnapping, you know! Hey-!" Hikaru cut himself off when Ogata strode from the room, locking the door behind him as he went, and scowled irritably.

"_Hikaru, I could…"_

"_SHUT UP," _the sho-dan snapped. _"I already said no!"_ Sai recoiled, then huffed and sat in the corner of the room. Hikaru felt momentarily guilty for taking his anger out on his companion like that, but having his friend continually wheedle him for games when he was in the middle of this sort of crisis was not helping. He resumed swearing under his breath and trying to loosen the fabric knots that had been tied around his wrists and ankles. It was hard, though, considering that he couldn't do much more than wiggle his fingers uselessly with the way Ogata had tied his hands. That didn't stop him from trying for what had to be an hour though, before he started to tire and gave up, resigned to staring at the pale blue walls.

More time passed, and he grew bored. He'd been trying for some time to figure out some plan of escape, but he'd already surmised that his chances of overpowering the elder and making his getaway were poor, and finding an opening long enough while the Jyudan was present to make a run for it wasn't much more likely. Dammit, what were the odds that Ogata would arrive home right then? Could his luck possibly be any worse?

Sai continued to sulk in the corner, refusing to even look at him. Hikaru sighed, wanting to apologise so that he'd at least have someone to talk to, but still too irritated over the whole issue to swallow his pride. Besides, the ghost was likely to remain grumpy until he agreed to let him play Ogata, which he definitely wasn't risking.

It was about four hours later when Ogata finally came and released him, dragging him out into the living room to once again play Go and eat dinner. The Jyudan was naturally displeased when Hikaru continued to play normally, but said nothing of it. The youth was allowed a brief bathroom break when they were done with the game, then promptly shoved back into the room, thankfully not tied to the chair this time. It still stood there as though taunting him. For a second he had the childish urge to destroy it in retaliation, but it wasn't as though Ogata had a shortage of chairs, and if anything he didn't want to forgo what was apparently the privilege having his hands free.

Since he and Sai still weren't talking, the sho-dan retired to the lumpy futon early, though he didn't fall asleep until well past midnight. Then the next morning the Jyudan pulled him half-asleep from bed and tied him back to the chair before locking him in again and heading off to the Institute. The teen then spent most of the day like that, until Ogata returned in the evening and released him again, and after a bathroom break and several tense games – which he predictably lost - with the elder pro, he was shoved back into the room and the door locked behind him again in what was becoming an irritating routine after not even a full four days. Hikaru stretched his muscles, wincing at the slight twinge in his shoulder – the awkward position coupled with the stress had made his muscles extremely stiff.

_"Are you okay, Hikaru?" _Sai asked in concern – it was the first words the ghost had spoken to him since he'd snapped the day before.

_"Yeah,"_ he mentally murmured in reply. _"Though I still have to find a way out of here. It's going to be tricky if Ogata keeps tying me up when he goes out." _If only Ogata hadn't arrived home just when he'd been about to make his escape! The fates really DID hate him.

_"Hikaru, when he next comes to ask, let me play!"_ the ghost begged him. _"He said he'll let you go if you win a game!"_

_"I already told you, no! It'll completely blow our cover! Can you imagine the reaction if everyone started thinking that I'd been playing below my level on purpose, when I could defeat Touya Meijin?"_

_"Just tell the truth, then!"_

"I can't tell anyone the truth about you, Sai - I'd be locked in a mental institution, or if not, they might try and exorcise you or something crazy like that! Stop being selfish! Torajiro couldn't tell anyone about you either, right?"

_"I... I'm just worried, Hikaru."  
_

The teen's face softened. _"Thanks Sai, but Ogata's going to get bored of this eventually. And if he doesn't, I'll find an opportunity to escape. He can't be vigilant all the time. There'll be an opening or something. Che, I should have just made a run for it at the very start."_

_"You were surprised, and it's hard to say no to an authority figure," _Sai consoled him.

_"Yeah, I guess. But I suppose he'd probably have caught me before I even made it to the door anyway," _the sho-dan mused, settling down in front of the Go board. _"Come on, Sai, it's too early to sleep yet, let's play a game. Who knows, today might be the day I beat you!"_

_"I doubt that!"_ the ghost replied, settling in front of the goban with a slight smile.

They played well into the night again, before Hikaru attempted sleep once more, his concentration eventually waning with his fatigue.


	6. Steps In the Path

Author's Note: A few reviewers have mentioned that they think Hikaru and Ogata are a bit out of character. I found this pretty interesting, as I'm not certain whether this is merely poor writing on my part, or perhaps just a difference of opinion. I guess I could see where they're coming with Ogata – though to me, he always seemed like a very ruthless, calculating individual that was just barely suppressing his temper a lot of the time. The anime also gives you the vague impression that he treats his girlfriends badly and that he's borderline alcoholic, so I'm sort of leading on from that. Maybe I'm off the mark? I watched the anime itself ages ago, and only started writing this when the dvds started coming out, so perhaps my recollection of his character has been influenced by other sources.

With Hikaru, it's possible that my perception of his character might have been diluted by all of that wallowing he did at the end of the anime and (slightly less so) the manga. Something I'll have to watch out for. Thanks for the feedback, I'll try and keep it in mind for future chapters.

Oh, and this chapter is sort of explanation for the whole issue with Sai. I was just going to leave it alone, honestly, so as not to focus on that particular break with canon, but it didn't feel right proceeding without at least briefly addressing it. Not really happy with how it turned out, but re-writing the chapter again and again probably wouldn't make much difference. Anyhow, this author's note is much too long now. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 5 – Steps In the Path

By Sinnatious

* * *

Hikaru restrained the urge to drum his fingers on the table as Ogata considered his next move, instead taking advantage of spare moment to drink some of the tea and eat some of the onigiri his 'host' had given him. Ogata had been out the previous evening, and while he had untied him and let him use the bathroom when he'd eventually stumbled in near midnight, he hadn't bothered giving the teen dinner, and Hikaru had decided against asking when he'd smelt alcohol on the man's breath. Ogata hadn't remembered to give him breakfast or lunch, either, and when he'd finally dragged him out of that depressing bland room to play again in the afternoon, the sho-dan forced himself to ask. The elder pro had heaved a suffering sigh and fished the store-bought onigiri out of the fridge and almost carelessly tossed them to him. He found it little wonder, given his attitude, that Ogata had an automatic fish-feeder. 

He'd learnt a fair amount about the Jyudan during his forced incarceration in his apartment over the past five days. The first thing was that he was something of a neat freak. The second was that he was incredibly selfish. The third was that he was nearly as obsessed with Go as Sai. That was pretty unsettling, as Sai had managed to maintain a one-tracked mind for a thousand years. The ghost, however, had a more childlike sort of love for it - it was innocent and somewhat cute, and while his companion would go quite some ways to fulfil his go-playing desires, there was never anything malicious about it - at the very worst, he'd become mischievous in his manner of trying to trick his host into agreeing to a game. Even if the ghost's game itself was ruthless, he acted like a spoiled child most of the rest of the time.

Ogata was a different matter. He was every bit as ruthless and conniving off the Go board as he was on it. His single-mindedness combined with his inherent selfishness and ego - probably a by-product of being the youngest current titleholder - was an awkward combination that Hikaru suspected alienated those around him. He'd been stuck in that apartment for damn near a week after all, and in that entire time the Jyudan hadn't had a single visitor.

"Your move," the Jyudan said impatiently, catching Hikaru out for not paying attention. Scanning the board, the sho-dan plonked down his next stone, having already decided on several different possible paths when he'd been planning his previous move.

Ogata took a drag on his seemingly ever-present cigarette and placed his stone a moment later. "This is getting boring, you know. You must be bored, too. You should play properly already."

"I keep telling you, I AM playing properly. It's a bit rude to expect a sho-dan to beat a title holder so easily."

"Hn, if you were really playing like a sho-dan this game would be over already. You've been playing at a 4-dan level from the start. If you're going to lie about your skill level, do some more research."

Hikaru clenched his hands. If he really was Sai, it would have been an insult, but for the youth it was a huge compliment. The idea that he might catch up to Touya sooner than he thought left him with a vaguely warm feeling - he was pretty sure that the other was a 3-dan officially, but he'd been playing 5 and 6 dans and winning. Still, in this situation, it was just something else that Ogata would use as evidence against him.

On the other hand, it gave him a new confidence in his game. Steeling himself for a fight, he forcefully placed black's reply. Someone of a sho-dan's level couldn't expect to defeat a title holder - despite his bravado, he knew that quite well. Playing Sai all the time made him plenty aware of his inadequacies as a Go player. If he really was playing at a 4-dan level, though... A 4-dan could get lucky in a match with a title-holder. There were more than just a couple of aspiring 4-dans who made it into the title leagues. They typically didn't have the strength to stay there for a long, but they were strong enough to take advantage of luck - if their opponent made a mistake, or if they were fortunate enough to encounter a list of players whom their particular style worked well against.

Might it be worth dumbing down his game a little then, so that Ogata would get bored more quickly?

….It wouldn't work. An amateur wasn't really able to tell when someone was holding back, but someone of a higher level would. In fact, if he started playing at a lower level, that would probably play right in the Jyudan's twisted logic. It was like getting your stones trapped in a ladder – there was no easy way to get out of it, and unless you'd thought ahead you were typically better off abandoning your stones rather than running them to the edge of the board where they'd die anyway. Besides, if he was going to be forced to play a title holder multiple times a day, he might as well make the most of it and play his best.

The next day, Sai woke him up at about ten in the morning. _'Hikaru, he's coming!'_

"Huh?" the sho-dan asked blearily, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

Moments later, the door slammed open, and Ogata dragged the barely comprehending youth out into the living room, sitting him down in the regular chair. There was already breakfast and a cup of coffee set next to the Go board.

"What's with you, so early in the morning?" Hikaru complained when the black bowl of stones were thrust in his direction.

"I'm busy today, but I thought I'd give you another chance to come clean about your identity before I have to leave."

They'd been having this same conversation almost constantly, and Hikaru was starting to lose count of how many games they'd played, betting on his freedom. Rather than replying, Hikaru grumpily placed his first stone as he devoured breakfast, still not fully awake. He didn't particularly like eating and playing at the same time, as it made it hard to focus on the game, but Ogata was too impatient to wait and watch him while he ate so he was left with no choice – it was either eat while they played or go hungry.

Predictably, he lost, though he at least got a lot further than he normally did – but there was no point in continuing the game into yose when he could see himself losing by five and a half moku. As soon as he'd finished his resignation, Ogata had let out an annoyed sigh before dragging him back to the room. Hikaru, sensing what was coming, dug in his heels. "No way! Not again!"

Grunting, the Jyudan heaved him into the chair, grabbed his wrists and twisted them around Hikaru's back. The sho-dan let out a little cry of pain as his shoulder jolted uncomfortably from the rough treatment. "Hey! What's the deal with this, anyway?!"

"I already told you - I'm going out," Ogata replied distractedly as he tightened the knots. "Stop struggling, brat!"

"Stop tying me up, bastard!"

"No respect for your elders. I wouldn't have to do this if you'd behave yourself. Or if you'd play as Sai."

"I'm getting tired of repeating myself – I'm not Sai!"

"I'm getting tired of repeating myself too, so I'm not going to." The Jyudan finished securing his legs. The phone in the main room started ringing, and he left without a word, though there was still the definitive click of the lock when the blonde closed the door behind him. Hikaru swore to himself, straining his ears in an attempt to hear the conversation from his position but not being able to make anything out other than a vague mumble. A few minutes later, there were several thumps and sounds of shuffling movement, then the tell-tale jingle of keys and the slamming of the apartment's front door.

The sho-dan was left tied to the blasted chair once again. Sighing to himself, he settled in for the wait. It had already been six days since he'd been outside, and it was getting old.

Speaking with Sai about a variety of trivial matters distracted him for a while, but without any external stimuli, they eventually lapsed into silence. The ghost appeared deep in thought about something, and even if he was bored, Hikaru was reluctant to intrude when his companion had that pensive look on his face.

Eventually, though, the eerie silence became too much. "_What's been up with you, lately, Sai?"_

The ghost started, as though surprised by the question. _"What do you mean, Hikaru?"_

"_You've been all moody and depressed lately."_ It was said in a whiny sort of tone, but Sai could hear the hidden undercurrent of concern in his host's voice. The words were true, however. The ghost merely hadn't expected Hikaru to notice his anxiety.

"_I…."_ Best to be honest._ "For a while, I was worried that might vanish,"_ he finally admitted.

The teen jerked in surprise, though the chair restricted the sudden movement. _"Vanish?!" _Worry had turned into panic.

"_I don't think I will anymore though!" _Sai reassured him._ "It feels as though… fate has turned on a different path?"_

Hikaru relaxed slightly at the reassurance. "You've been around for a thousand years after all," he said out loud, as though to convince himself. "You're hardly going to vanish all of sudden, right?" The laugh that followed was unsure and filled with nervousness.

Sai suddenly wished that he'd just avoided the topic like he normally did. His companion was under enough stress as it was, and the thought of being left alone all of a sudden in his current situation would undoubtedly make him just as uneasy as it made Sai. _"Of course I'm not going anywhere, Hikaru. I expect that after my match with Touya Kouyo, it was just a little overwhelming. If Kami-sama does decide that it is time for me to move on, I'm sure it will be many years from now."_

"_Yeah. Still, I'll go grab that old Go board from Grandpa's attic when we get out of here, okay? If the house burnt down or something and it was destroyed, what would happen to you? Maybe nothing, but it'll make us both rest a little easier, right?"_

"_If it makes you feel better." _It was hard to believe that this was the same child that had once almost constantly begged him to go possess anybody else. The sensation that he really had become Hikaru's best friend was both heart-warming and saddening at the same time. Guilt spiked briefly through him – what if the youth had neglected his friendships with the living because of him?

Thinking about such matters was too complicated and depressing, given their already complicated and depressing situation. Hikaru apparently had the same idea – once again he was staring vacantly into space, obviously having abandoned that heavy train of thought and instead returning to trying to concoct some sort of plan, or maybe he was even mentally replaying one of his games against the Jyudan, leaving Sai to his own ponderings once again.

Truthfully, the ghost had been worried for some weeks after the match with Touya Kouyo that his time with Hikaru was limited. For so long, it felt as though time had stopped within him, but then he'd become terrified when it felt almost as though it were rushing by like a torrential flood.

Now, though, that sensation had vanished once again – or perhaps remained as a mere trickle of its former self. Had Kami-sama taken pity on him? Or was it simply the fact that Hikaru needed him here now, anchoring him to the world of the living?

He was not going to overlook his good fortune, Sai decided. If he truly were fated to disappear in the future, then Fujiwara no Sai would continue his search for the Hand of God until the very last moment. At the very worst, he could be secure in the knowledge that should his time expire, he could trust Hikaru to continue his journey to the Divine Move.


	7. Ko Threat

Author's Note: This chapter is sort of more of the same, I guess. Don't worry, even if this is more or less just an angsty plot bunny, there is something of a point to all this. A Jedi must have patience. ;)

This chapter is a bit shorter, and from what I've done so far the next chapter looks shorter again, but it's keeping the updates at a good pace. Would people prefer longer waits between updates or more frequent updates but shorter chapters? Thanks as usual to those who review, too.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 6 – Ko Threat

By Sinnatious

* * *

Shindou tried to guess what time of day it was simply by the strength of the light on the pale blue wall. He'd been staring at it for what felt like forever, but had eventually decided that it was probably somewhere in the realm of mid to late afternoon. It was rather boring. If the Jyudan was so insistent on tying him to a chair when he went out, why didn't he at least put him in front of the TV, or let him face that tiny window? 

It had been a day and a half now that he'd been trapped in that blasted chair. Ogata hadn't returned the night before as he usually did, demanding a game. Maybe he'd stayed out and got too drunk to drive home? If that were the case, though, surely he would have at least returned for a while in the morning to change clothes?

Hikaru shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Since he hadn't been freed to go to the toilet, he'd eventually been forced to wet himself – or have his kidneys burst. In the end, he figured a little humiliation was the better of the two alternatives. Thankfully, Sai didn't have a sense of smell – the ghost hadn't noticed his predicament, and he made no move to draw any attention to it. He was terribly thirsty, as well, which had long taken precedence over his rumbling stomach.

His ears picked out the faint metallic rattle of keys in the lock. Finally!

There were a series of thumps and shuffling movements, rustling papers and jingle of dropping coins that generally heralded Ogata's arrival back to his apartment. After about half an hour of the Jyudan stumbling about, making himself at home, he finally came to check on his prisoner.

The sho dan made certain he was wearing his best glare – not that it would make any difference – when the door finally swung open. It was about time.

Ogata took a couple of steps into the room, and then wrinkled his nose. "You stink."

"I wonder why," came the sarcastic response. Wasn't the bastard at least going to offer some excuse as to why he'd just left for over twenty-four hours?

Ignoring him, the Jyudan untied his arms and legs and dragged him towards the bathroom – quite literally, as Shindou was having trouble getting the sensation back into his limbs after sitting in that awkward position for so long. "Get in there. Have a bath. Soap and shampoo are by the sink. And give me those clothes. I won't be able to concentrate on our games when you smell to high heaven."

Glowering, Hikaru complied, but mostly because he desperately wanted a bath anyway. He closed the door while undressing, making certain to hook his key chain to his belt and stow his wallet with it, opening the door again only long enough to throw his clothes outside, before slamming it shut and locking it again. It was a somewhat nice feeling, being able to lock Ogata out, rather than him being the one locked in. Not that there was really that big a difference, as Ogata probably had all of the master house keys to unlock anything he wanted anyway, but none of that mattered – he got to have a bath! At long last! His entire body felt like an old sock! The brief refreshing he was allowed when Ogata gave him toilet breaks was hardly enough to feel human.

Before settling into the hot tub, though, he drank his fill of water from the tap, the cool liquid easing the discomfort of his parched throat. It was invigorating, but not nearly as much as stepping under the shower and getting properly cleaned.

"_You were sure tied up for a long time, Hikaru," _Sai commented needlessly.

"Hn," the sho-dan agreed, as he sank into the steaming bath water. The ghost and he had long overcome their issues with modesty by necessity, though his companion usually faced away to be polite. Stiff muscles practically melted in the relaxing warmth. The teen just soaked for at least twenty minutes before he finally crawled out and set about washing his hair under the shower, then settled in to soak for another ten. Heck, it was better than being forced to stare at a wall or play tense games of Go with his captor.

When Hikaru eventually poked his head out of the bathroom, dressed in a towel, he saw a pile of folded clothes sitting outside the door. More of Ogata's too-big castaways, by the looks of it. He wrinkled his nose in distaste, but snatched them up and got dressed anyway. Hopefully he'd get his own pants back after they'd been laundered. _If _they got laundered. The title-holder certainly wasn't the domestic type.

Once dressed, he cautiously cracked open the bathroom door again. The apartment beyond was still and quiet. Hesitantly, he opened it a little wider to get a better view of the hallway and the living room. His captor was nowhere in sight.

As quietly as possible he slipped through the door, each step carefully placed so as not to make any sounds that would draw the Jyudan's attention. It took all of his self-control not to just run for it, but Go had taught him that patience would reap better results. Only when the foyer was in sight did he allow himself to dash for the door…

Only for Ogata to step from the foyer into his path, easily catching him with one arm. "Going somewhere?"

Cursing under his breath, Shindou cleared his throat as innocently as possible and asked, "Could I get something to eat?"

Huffing, obviously annoyed, the Jyudan shuffled him into the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards and then throwing him a large packet of chips. Junk food wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind, but Hikaru was hungry enough that he didn't care, munching on the chips eagerly with his left hand, keeping his right free to handle the stones as they sat down to play at the board Ogata had obviously set up while he'd been showering.

The sho-dan lost the first game rather horribly, but that was to be expected as his concentration was shot by hunger and fatigue – being trussed to that damn chair overnight had kept from getting little more than a few half hour catnaps worth of slepp. The dark look the Jyudan sent him made him flinch, though, so he put more effort into the next game, but was still forced to resign well before the end game.

"_What's wrong, Hikaru? You're not playing very well," _Sai remarked.

"_Having trouble concentrating today," _came the short reply.

Ogata tapped his hand on the table impatiently as they made their way into the third game. The sun had set by now, and the already dim apartment was growing dark. Hikaru was itching to turn on the lights himself, but usually any movement he made to leave the table was frozen with just a cold glare from his captor.

Hikaru frowned as he placed his next stone, then panicked as he realised that he'd got his stones caught in a ladder. Ogata had noticed straight away of course, and was calmly steering them towards the edge of the board. His eyes desperately searched for a nearby group he might be able to link up with to help his stones escape, but there were none. It was a terribly beginner trap to fall into, but there was little to be done now that the stone had been laid. It was hard to resist the urge to sigh. He hadn't played this badly since the preliminaries.

"I resign." Sacrificing those stones made it impossible to stage a come back. If he'd been feeling a little more confident, there was a possibility of salvaging at least his pride, but under the current circumstances it was more likely that the defeat would only become more and more humiliating the longer the game lasted.

"About time. That was certainly disappointing."

The Jyudan wasn't wrong, but what did he expect? It was ridiculous to expect your opponent to play at all well under those sorts of conditions. It was practically a miracle he was managing as well as he was.

There was a painfully long silence as the two faced off. Finally, Ogata stood, and announced, "No more food until you start playing properly."

"What? Hey!"

The blonde grasped the youth by his arm and tugged him to his feet, jostling him back to his room. "It's obvious that you'll continue on like this forever otherwise. This seems like the only way you'll understand."

"But you can't-"

"I can't? Who is going to stop me?"

The young pro had no response for that, so with no further ceremony the elder pushed him into the bedroom and locked the door behind him, calling through it, "Remember, Shindou. All you have to do is play as Sai."

"Go to hell!" he yelled in response, then flopped onto the thin, old futon tiredly. It looked like Ogata wasn't vanishing anywhere tonight, seeing as he hadn't bothered to tie him up before locking him in this accursed room. At least it ought to be possible to get some sleep now.

"_Ne, Hikaru? What are you going to do? It's been a week already."_

"I know, Sai. He's more patient than I gave him credit for. If we're lucky, he'll have a visitor eventually – or if worst comes to worst, someone will eventually notice I'm missing and come find me."

"But Hikaru… no one knows you're here."

"_Ogata phoned my house, remember? Even though he didn't leave a message, his number will show up on caller id. Of course, I don't think we'll have to wait that long." _

"_Oh."_ There was a long silence as Sai contemplated this, then he asked, _"Do you think he really meant it? About the food?"_

"_I don't know."_ Though Ogata's track record so far seemed to indicate that the teen could plan on going hungry. It was no surprise, really – in fact, it was more surprising his captor hadn't taken this tactical move before. The man hid it well, but his fraying temper was a clear indicator of his anxiousness. Obviously the Jyudan hadn't expected the teen to be so stubborn, and was trying to force a resolution before someone _did_ notice his absence.

So Ogata had made another move. He'd have to respond, somehow. Battles of attrition weren't his style. "I have to stay calm. If I don't stay calm, he wins," he murmured, more for his own benefit than Sai's, though the ghost nodded his approval anyway.

Had it really been just a week? It felt like a lifetime.


	8. A Wrong Move

Author's Note: This chapter is really short, but I've already almost finished writing the next chapter, so you can expect that probably sometime tomorrow. I've loosely arranged the 'story' (plot bunny cough cough) into three arcs, and this concludes the first arc. Or would it be acts? Either way, expect a change of pace (and POV) next chapter. Sorry to the impatient types – I've tried to pick up the pace, but it looks like old habits die hard.

Warning: This chapter contains language and violence.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 7 – A Wrong Move

By Sinnatious

* * *

The next day, Hikaru found himself ignoring his growing hunger in order to focus on his games with the Jyudan. Even if his game was a great deal better than the games the previous day, it obviously wasn't enough to please the Jyudan. It never would be. It was getting to the point where the sho-dan was wondering if even Sai's skills would be enough. 

Still, obviously the elder felt that he had the upper hand in the situation now. Sitting back in his chair with a smug smirk, he idly remarked, "You know, I'm supposed to be going to Touya Kouyo's study group tomorrow. I wonder if he has anything to say about you being Sai?"

"He won't have anything to say, because he already knows it's not true," Hikaru retorted shortly, even though a part of him wondered about that aborted question in the hospital. "And YOU won't say anything because then people will know you have something to do with my disappearance."

"I don't know, brat, it appears to me no one has really noticed yet. From what I've been hearing, the Institute just seems to think you are rude for not calling in sick." The Jyudan laid down his stone with a smirk.

Shindou's only response was the 'pa-chink' of stone on wood. Ogata frowned slightly at the move and abandoned the conversation, concentrating instead of saving the stones that the last move had threatened.

The sho-dan used the brief opportunity to observe his opponent carefully. He'd spent the previous night in deep thought, and though an easy way out of his situation had yet to present itself, with Ogata's ultimatum the stakes had changed. So the teen had to change his own strategy accordingly. And patience aside, he knew he had to act SOON, before hunger weakened him.

His options in this regard were limited. All attempts of reasoning with the man had failed, and even if he was getting better at Go, the chances of defeating the Jyudan in any reasonable amount of time were slim. So, as he expected, it came down to a forceful escape. There wasn't a great deal he could do in that regard, either. Ogata tied him up while he was out, and the rest of the time he was either trapped in the guest room with the Jyudan outside, able to hear if he tried anything too tricky, or sitting there playing Go under the elder's watchful eye. It was already plenty clear that he wasn't ever going to able to escape that room, having to deal with the dual struggle of both freeing his hands and then finding a way around the lock on the door, so the only possibility was to act when he was free in the living room, playing Go. The thought of trying to overpower the elder had crossed his mind, but Ogata was a full-grown man, and was bigger, stronger, and had a longer reach. That only left the chance of making a dash for the door. Even though his previous attempts hadn't gone very far, he was desperate enough now to take more chances. All he had to do was wait for the right moment, when the Jyudan was distracted and would be slow to react.

Which meant now.

There wasn't likely to be a better time. Hikaru cupped his hand around his bowl of black stones. It was practically blasphemy for a Go pro, but it would gain him precious seconds. _"Sai, please forgive me for what I'm about to do."_

_"What?"_

Ogata, in deep concentration, never saw it coming. Hikaru suddenly threw his bowl of stones directly at the man's head, with a strength and speed he didn't know he possessed. The blonde-haired man swore loudly as the heavy bowl connected with his left temple, showering him with small black stones. This was his chance! He leapt from his chair, making a mad dash for the door, ignoring Sai's surprised exclamations from behind him. The youth almost tripped over his own feet in his haste to reach the exit, where he fumbled frantically with the lock. Freedom was so close, if he could just get outside...

He choked, suddenly tugged backwards by the neck of his shirt. The youth only caught a glimpse of Ogata's fist before it slammed into his face, sending the world spinning as he was knocked to the ground.

"You little brat! How DARE you?!" The elder accented his words with a hard kick to the teen's stomach. Hikaru gasped, curling in on himself as Ogata, blinded with rage, kicked him again. His feeble attempts at shielding himself were ineffectual; his head was still swimming from the first punch.

He was vaguely aware of Sai's angry flailing in the background. _"Stop it! Get away from him!"_

God, it had been his worst idea yet. If his near-escape before had made the Jyudan mad, he was positively FURIOUS now.

A sharp pain exploded in his temple, followed by a blossoming sting to his right leg, then another on his side. It continued for what seemed like forever, but it was probably only another twenty seconds or so before Ogata, rage and energy spent, grasped the dizzy and winded youth by the collar and dragged him back to the room. The world spun crazily as the teen's head throbbed and he choked, struggling to draw breath until he was released again. For a long couple of minutes he wasn't sure which way was up and which was down, though a distant part of him protested as his arms were wrenched painfully behind his back, drawing a gasp, and the fabric was wound around them again.

When the sho-dan's head finally cleared, he was surprised to see that his captor's familiar glasses had cracked, and that the normally well-groomed man had an unsightly growing egg on his forehead. It seemed like a shallow comfort, as Hikaru had no doubt that he looked much worse. It didn't help that Ogata had obviously tied him back to the chair even more tightly than normal – he was already becoming preoccupied with the flow of blood to his fingers.

"You just don't learn, do you?!" Ogata sneered, kicking the chair once more for good measure, grazing Hikaru's leg with the side of his shoe as he did so. The youth was busy just concentrating on getting his breath back, and couldn't manage to wheeze out a reply. "Brat! You're lucky I don't fucking KILL you!" The Jyudan stalked from the room and slammed the door shut so hard that it was mildly amazing it didn't fall off its hinges. Even after he left, his anger hung about the room like a dark cloud. It was true that wounded beasts were the most vicious after all, apparently.

"_Hikaru! Hikaru!" _Sai called, hovering anxiously by the sho-dan. The ghost was alarmed at the youth's raspy breathing, and downright terrified by the lack of focus in his eyes.

"_I'm… okay Sai."_

"_No you're not! You're not okay at all! That man is an absolute monster!" _The ghost glared at the door, then turned back to hovering in concern over his host. Hikaru was wincing through his gasps, a pained expression on his face, and his eyes kept drifting lazily around the room without seeming to see much of anything.

Something between a laugh and sob got caught in his throat. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Even after lecturing himself on remaining calm, fooling himself into thinking he was making a rational decision escaping just then, he'd wound up giving into his panic anyhow. He should have been patient and waited for a better opportunity! Now all he'd managed to do was irritate an already agitated Ogata even more and close off yet another escape route. He didn't have many liberties left. Foolish, short-sighted attempts like that were almost as good as committing suicide!

There had to be another way. Ogata had to knew that he couldn't keep him there forever. What if…

"_Hikaru?"_

The youth didn't respond. His head lolled to the side, eyes closed.


	9. Conspiracy Theories

Author's Note: There's some good speculation happening in the reviews section. I'd like to address all of those queries individually, but I tend to write things that get explained later in the story, so doing so would probably wind up making future chapters redundant. Anyhow, thanks for all the reviews! I managed to spit out this chapter in record time (for me) – but don't get used to such speedy updates. Twice a week seems to be the current pace, and I doubt I'll manage to do much better.

Also, it appears the term 'egg' on the forehead is unfamiliar to many of you. Is this an Australianism? For reference, it's a common term for the lump that develops on foreheads after a heavy blow. :S

Right, now that's cleared up, hope you enjoy this chapter. For a change of pace, we get to see what everyone else up to.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 8 – Conspiracy Theories

By Sinnatious

* * *

Touya Akira bowed politely to the reporter as he left the elevator. It had been a crazy couple of weeks with the reporters running to him almost constantly, all eager for even the tiniest new morsel of information regarding his father's retirement. It had become rather tiresome, and the young pro was hoping that the fuss would die down soon. 

As he made his way through the foyer of Go Association, a gathering just beyond the elevators caught his attention.

"I can't believe he'd be so irresponsible! He only just became a pro, and he pulls a stunt like this?!"

"Maybe something came up at school?" A female voice suggested.

"He hasn't been to a single match in two weeks! Two weeks! That's at least four forfeits! And apparently he never turned up to that convention they were having out of town, either!" A red-headed boy was waving his hands around wildly, clearly pissed off. Touya stretched his memory, vaguely recalling playing him once. That's right - his name was Waya. He seemed to be talking to a girl - probably an Insei, since she looked familiar but he didn't know her name - and a slightly older pro; judging by his unusual grey-ish hair, he was probably that Saeki - was it 4-dan? - that Ashiwara talked about so fondly.

"Maybe he's just sick," the girl suggested.

"He could still call in sick, or at least let someone know! Morishita-sensei was furious when he didn't turn up the study session for two weeks in a row!" They were talking about Shindou, Touya realised abruptly.

"He just tags along when he feels like it anyway, doesn't he? I thought he only started going to your study sessions because you practically dragged him there," Ochi suddenly piped up. Touya hadn't noticed him before - the diminutive go-player must have been eavesdropping, the same as him.

"Once Morishita-sensei decides you belong to his study session, you'd better be in hospital before you're late to it," Saeki commented with a shiver.

"Has anyone been to his house?" the girl asked, the only one who seemed genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I went yesterday, but no one was home," Waya said dismissively, then paused. "Actually, come to think of it, when I came early this morning to fix up a scheduling error, the guy at the front desk was complaining that he couldn't get in touch with Shindou at all, even by phone, no matter when he called. You'd think they would have at least caught one of his parents or something."

Touya was contemplating joining the discussion when he caught sight of another vaguely familiar girl loitering by the Institute entrance out of the corner of his eye. It appeared Waya spotted her also, and was more successful in putting name to face. "Hey, you! You're Shindou's friend right? Um…. Was it Akiko?"

"Akari," the girl replied, wandering over with a look of relief on her face. "I wasn't sure if I had the right place… I mean, I know it has the sign and all, but…"

"You're looking for Shindou? I'm Waya, by the way. We've met before, but you probably don't remember."

"Nase," the other girl introduced herself.

"Saeki."

"Ochi," the smallest of the group finally said after being elbowed in the ribs by the Insei girl.

"Nice to meet you," she replied, smiling nervously. "Um, you're all go pros too?"

"I'm still just an Insei," Nase explained, "But all of these guys are. Waya and Ochi were the lucky ones to pass this year's exam with Shindou."

"Oh, is he in today? He hasn't been to school at all lately, and he hasn't been home as far as I can tell… I thought I'd see if I could catch him here. The teachers know that he misses a lot of school because of Go, but they're getting sort of annoyed that he didn't warn them about this extended absence, so I thought I'd talk to him and, well…"

Waya scratched his head. "So you haven't seen him either? Well, he's not here. He's missed all of his matches for the past two weeks."

Akira edged closer to the conversation, eager to participate but unsure about doing so - he certainly didn't want people to think he was at all interested in whatever Shindou did. Eventually, though, he caved - Ochi already knew that he had his eye on the newly minted sho-dan, so nothing would be lost joining the conversation - save, perhaps, his dignity.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but did I hear you right? You haven't seen Shindou at all?"

Akari jerked in surprise at his arrival, face blank for a moment before recognition dawned. "Ahhh! You're that kid from Kaiou that was stalking Hikaru!"

"Eh?!" Nase asked, "You were stalking Shindou, Touya-sensei?"

"Don't call him 'sensei', he's the same age as us!" Waya protested, glaring at him. He strongly resembled a spitting cat. Akira was starting to second-guess his decision to join the circle of gossipers.

Blushing, he replied, "No, it wasn't like that... that was just Shindou causing a scene...," he trailed off at the sceptical look on the girl's face. Admittedly, when he thought about it, his behaviour had been slightly reminiscent of stalking. He just hadn't known how else to deal with the uncooperative youth.

"Hmm, so you and Shindou really ARE rivals then?" Nase continued contemplatively, finger on her chin and eyes looking skyward. "We never really believed him, but then again, he made it into the top Insei class in a really short period of time... and passing the pro test on his first go, too! Waya's the same age and he took it multiple times!"

"Really? But he didn't know anything about it two and a half... I guess maybe by now it's three?... years ago," Akari mused, then shook herself. "I mean, that's not important. Touya, was it? You haven't seen him either?"

He was tempted to snap at the implication that he was supposed to have, but if he wanted more information that wasn't the right way to go about it. "I've only heard that he's been forfeiting matches," he ground out.

"His parents are overseas on a business trip," Akari said thoughtfully. "Maybe he followed them after a couple of days? Or maybe there was an emergency with his grandfather. I guess Hikaru might forget to call if it was something like that, but surely by now…"

Touya lingered at the Institute for some time, listening to the speculation of Shindou's friends. Waya had been particular incensed, quoting that Isumi had failed the pro exam while Shindou had passed, and it was going to waste if the sho-dan wasn't going to turn up to his matches. Akira wasn't certain who exactly Isumi was, but figured it must have been a mutual friend. Akari and Nase were both more concerned than anything, the two of them speculating about any number of freak accidents or personal crises that might have occurred, while Saeki and Ochi remained passive listeners, only interjecting when any of the theories become too ludicrous to even be possible. After the first few minutes, they'd almost forgotten he was there as wrapped up in the mystery as they were, though Waya and Ochi both regularly sent him glares. Still, it had been sort of…. Well, nice, to be treated just as another Go pro for once, rather than the 'great Touya Akira'. He'd never really had the chance to hang around any of the pros his own age; his own talent and status as Touya Meijin's son alienated most of them. And those who were able to be his rivals and look beyond his family were typically many years older and didn't much like the notion of someone so young being on equal footing.

Eventually, he drifted away when it was starting to look like the group of gossipers was about to break up, heading home in deep thought and wondering where exactly it was his self-proclaimed rival had disappeared to. So immersed in his own musings was he that when his father's voice called out to him as he headed towards his room, it took all of his self control to stop visibly starting.

"Ah, Akira, you're home. I thought you might not be coming," his father welcomed him. The retired Meijin was sitting in front of a goban in the study room, with Ogata, Ashiwara and the others of the usual study group gathered around. There were a few books and kifu spread out to the side. In the conversation about Shindou at the Institute, Akira had completely forgotten that a study group had been scheduled that afternoon. Since his father's admittance to hospital and then announcement of his retirement, the study group hadn't met at all, throwing off his routine. It would take a couple of weeks to get back into the rhythm of things.

"I'm sorry, I was held up at the Institute," he apologised, entering the room and moving to join the group around the go board. He paused briefly when catching sight of Ogata's face. There was a nasty-looking lump on his temple – and were those different glasses?

"Fortunately, we just started, so you haven't missed much," Ashiwara assured him with a kind smile. "We were just discussing everyone's games that took place this week.

The rising young go star was still more preoccupied with the abnormalities in the Jyudan's appearance. "Right. Ogata-sensei, did something happen to you?"

The elder pro grunted. "Ran into my own door while drunk. Broke my glasses." His words were curt and to the point, indicating an intense desire to leave the topic alone. Touya didn't press him, figuring that it was probably embarrassing for someone of such stature in the Go world to do something so unseemly as get drunk and then run into walls.

Talk turned briefly to discussing the former Meijin's and Ogata's matches for the Jyudan title, then they replayed Ashiwara's latest ranking game. After that, everyone had a look through one of the rare books the newly minted Jyudan had brought with him, even though the man in question seemed preoccupied and worried about something, barely contributing to the discussion. It was a little odd, really. Ogata was usually so focused.

While the elder pros poured over the text and argued over several of the passages contained within, Yuuji, a quiet 5-dan who'd been attending the study groups since he'd become a pro but Touya still didn't know very well and Takeshi 6-dan were talking quietly amongst themselves. It wasn't until his ears caught the name 'Shindou Hikaru' for the second time that day that Touya started paying attention.

It appeared that he wasn't the only one that had accidentally eavesdropped, either. "Ah, Shindou Hikaru, the sho-dan that hasn't been turning up to his games for the past four weeks?" Ashiwara asked, suddenly bright at the prospect of gossip. "Isn't he a friend of yours, Akira?"

Touya shifted uncomfortably where he sat. "We're not friends."

The elder pro pouted slightly at that. "Aww, so you don't know what's going on? It's weird that he'd just stop turning up like that."

"Come, Ashiwara," Touya Kouyo gently chided. "We are not here to gossip about the lives of new pros. There is likely a reasonable explanation for young Shindou's lack of attendance. He could very well have left a message with the Institute notifying them of his absence and it got lost in the piles of paperwork. They just finished running the new Insei tests, after all. We all know how disorganised the Institute can be during these times."

"What about you, Ogata? What do you think?" Ashiwara challenged, unwilling to let the topic go just yet.

Gaze cool, the blonde pro raised an eyebrow. "No doubt the brat will turn up eventually. Kid probably just wasn't ready to go pro yet, and couldn't handle the pressure."

The peppy brunette frowned. "But he was winning all of his matches." Touya had to admit that Ashiwara had a point. Even if he himself was inclined to believe that Shindou - who even as a pro seemed so clueless about the pro world - had just cracked and run away, he wasn't the type to do so without a reason.

Ogata shrugged, and then made to stand. "Your guess is as good as mine, then. I'll be leaving early if you'll excuse me. I had a late night and an early morning - I'm off to get some sleep."

"Thank you for coming," Akira's father said politely as the Jyudan left the room.

Crossing his arms, Ashiwara complained, "What's WITH Ogata lately? He's been acting strange! Normally he can't resist a conspiracy theory."

"Being a title holder means a lot of extra responsibility," the former Meijin counselled. "Ogata is likely just adjusting to his new workload."

"I suppose Touya-sensei would know," Ashiwara admitted mournfully.

"Oh, Ogata-sensei forgot his book," Yuuji murmured. Indeed, the textbook that the Jyudan had brought to share a few passages out of remained off to the side.

"Hmm, I wonder if he'll miss it," Touya Kouyo mused, retrieving the forgotten tome.

"I can drop it off to him on my way home from the Institute tomorrow," Akira offered. "It's no trouble."

The former Meijin seemed to hesitate, but handed over the book regardless - it was so hard to tell what he was thinking with an almost permanently stern countenance at times, but Akira had long grown used to his father's habitual poker face and didn't bother trying to read into it. "In that case, please do."

Touya took the book to his room to place in his bag so that he didn't forget to bring it with him to the Institute the next morning, then returned to conclude the study group with the rest of the members, pushing the matter with Shindou firmly to the back of his mind.


	10. A Very Strange Game

Author's Note: Boy are there going to be a bunch of reviewers cranky with me. C'mon, guys, that would be way too obvious! Also, this fic would then end in two chapters. I'm actually only about halfway. One or two of you are the money, though, so hopefully I'm not making a huge mistake. Though admittedly that particular course of events would be pretty interesting. Hmm. Oh well, I exist to frustrate?

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 9 – A Very Strange Game

By Sinnatious

* * *

The next day after concluding his business at the Institute, Akira took a brief detour on his way home to stop by Ogata's apartment to return the forgotten book. He'd been there once or twice before, so his knock on the door was sure. 

Touya paused awkwardly at the door when Ogata didn't answer straight away. The Jyudan's car had been parked downstairs, so he knew the man was home... maybe he was sleeping, or couldn't hear the door?

He glanced at the book again worriedly. He really didn't want to just leave it on the doorstep, and it would be a waste of a trip if he didn't deliver it. Ogata had told him and his father once where he kept his spare key, so that one of them might refill his fish feeder while he was away, but he was having trouble remembering where that was.

Just as he was starting to consider looking for it, the door swung partially open, and a stressed looking Ogata poked his head out. "Akira? What are you doing here?"

Touya held out the book. "You left this behind at yesterday's study session. Father asked me to drop it off on my way back from the Institute today."

"Oh, thank you," the Jyudan said somewhat distractedly, opening the door only marginally wider to collect the book. A second later, the man was stumbling into the hallway, and Touya was blinking in stupefied surprise when he caught sight of a familiar head of hair over the elder pro's shoulder.

"Shindou?"

"Touya?" For a second, he thought the other pro looked almost… crestfallen? That expression turned to alarm, though, when Ogata growled and grabbed the youth by the collar, heaving him back into the apartment. "Ack, Touya! Help! I've been kidnapped!"

"Brat! Stay put like I told you!" The Jyudan looked like he was going to say more, but turned to Akira instead with a slightly panicked expression on his face.

"Is that really… Shindou?" he blurted.

Ogata's expression became calculating, though Touya thought he must have just imagined it, because the elder just fidgeted a moment, and then replied, "Yes. I suppose you want to talk to him?"

"I want to give him a piece of my mind, if that's what you mean!" Akira snapped, storming into the apartment without being invited.

"Shindou!" The indignant pro demanded as he approached the teen who was still standing in the hallway, somewhere between surprised and shocked at the presence of his future rival in Ogata's home. "What are you doing here?" Seizing the opportunity, he barrelled on, "Where have you been? Your friends at the Institute have been going mad with worry over you! Why have you been skipping games?"

"That's what everyone would like to know," Ogata cut in smoothly, looking as though he'd finally recollected himself. "I ran into him on the street a few minutes ago, looking like he'd been run over by a gang of punks, and dragged him here to talk about it. But he won't say a thing, will you, Shindou? Just keeps kicking up a fuss, calling me a kidnapper and trying to run off. I suppose he'd rather be lying in some gutter. Ungrateful kid."

Touya paused, finally taking in the appearance of the other youth properly. At first, his shock at seeing the other boy in such an unexpected place had overridden everything else, but now that he could get a proper look…. Shindou looked terrible. There were dark bags under his eyes, and he had a generally unhealthy pallor that was normally associated with people that hadn't been eating or sleeping properly for extended periods of time. There were a painful-looking bruises on his right cheek and temple, and even his hair, normally well-groomed, looked as though it hadn't been washed or combed for a couple of days. "Shindou…. Are you okay? You don't look so good." Touya immediately mentally kicked himself for acknowledging any sort of concern for the person he'd sworn to ignore, but the other youth really did look a wreck. In a way, Akira found himself wishing that the boy really WAS just goofing off and ignoring his responsibilities the way the people at the Institute seemed to think.

"Touya…," the youth started, glanced at Ogata, then shook his head, eyes darting about nervously and looking everywhere but the other Go pro. "Oh, it looks worse than it is. Don't worry about it." Shindou gave him a weak smile, presumably meant to be reassuring, and Touya thought he was going to be sick. It was wrong. How could the sho-dan smile at him looking like that? What on earth had happened? One of Akari and Nase's wild theories had involved him being mugged or joining a gang, but Akira hadn't really thought that possible. Sure, Shindou had the partially bleached hair, but he was hardly a punk or a bully. Still, he looked a right mess.

"So... where HAVE you been, Shindou?" Touya asked in as polite a manner as he could muster, aware that his initial outburst must have seemed rather out of character in front of the Jyudan – though pale in comparison to Shindou's wild accusations. Still, he really didn't want to seem at all interested in the other youth's doings, since that would be outwardly admitting to some sort of odd friendship or rivalry, but there was too much at stake. "Why did you stop attending your matches all a sudden?"

The teen seemed uncomfortable at that, shifting from foot to foot, eyes wandering around the room before lingering briefly on Ogata who was also patiently awaiting an answer.

"It's complicated," came the eventual reply. The teen seemed nervous about something… maybe even afraid?

"Then explain it."

"Why should I explain it to you?" Shindou was being awfully defensive.

"You should at least have told people if you weren't going to come to matches! The Institute would have cancelled or rescheduled them! Why didn't you do that?!"

"I-," again the sho-dan cut himself off, practically biting through his lower lip.

Growing angry, Touya pinned the other teen with a cold gaze and crossed his arms. "People spend their entire lives trying to become a pro, and the minute you do you just quit? Did you suddenly realise how hard it was? You couldn't stand losing?" Never mind that Shindou hadn't technically lost a game - other than the sho-dan series one, of course - in his pro career yet.

"It's not that," muttered the teen.

"I think it is," Touya challenged.

The other youth twiddled his fingers anxiously. The habit seemed out of place on the normally boisterous teen. "What does it matter to you anyway?"

"So it's true?"

"Of course not! I'm not playing because… there are…. Other reasons," he finished lamely.

"I don't believe you."

"Yeah?! I'll prove it to you! Play me, right here and, right now!" Shindou announced suddenly, showing his first sign of spark.

Caught off-guard by the unexpected challenge, Touya didn't respond immediately; mouth opening and closing in a manner that must have strongly resembled a fish. The prospect was tempting; even if he preferred an official game - since he'd been forced to forfeit the one that had been scheduled with Shindou he had no idea when the next opportunity to play the sho-dan might arise. He wouldn't be able to wait for the next Insei and new pros tournament - that was months away yet! He simply couldn't stand waiting anymore. He wanted to see how strong Shindou really was NOW.

Akira suddenly remembered where he was and whose company he was in. He placed his hands on his temples, cursing his impulsive behaviour. Shindou had a remarkable talent for making him lose his cool without doing a single darn thing. "I... do you mind, Ogata? I'm sorry I just barged in here like this."

"Quite all right, providing you boys behave yourselves," the Jyudan was addressing both of them, but his gaze remained firmly on Shindou. Touya couldn't shake the unnerving feeling that the words were laden with a hidden message. "And so long as you don't mind an audience."

Shindou looked unhappy at that, but didn't say anything. They walked over to the Go table, Touya absently noting that the teen was moving a little stiffly, but as soon as they were sitting the Go pro backgrounded everything else, mind focused solely on the highly anticipated match in front of him. How long had he desired this confrontation? The strangeness of the setting or the unusual circumstances didn't matter anymore. He was entirely focused on the game.

They performed nigiri, and Akira got white. He patiently sat back as Shindou sat there for a good ten minutes, eyes roaming the empty board. The other pro was suddenly reminded of the baffling game his rival had played with his father in the sho-dan series and fervently hoped this wasn't to be a repeat. Though in all fairness, this was an unplanned match, so Shindou spending a lot time on the first move wasn't so unusual.

Ogata let out an impatient sigh next to them. As though spurred by the sound, the teen finally placed his first stone.

'10-9'? That was an unusual starting move. Cautiously, Akira placed a white stone on the lower right star. A moment later, a black stone was placed directly above it. Now his eyebrows were raised. Shindou was slowly becoming known for pulling out some really odd moves which often later became meaningful, but never had he seen something like this so early in a game.

Touya frowned, hesitating. This didn't make any sense. Then again, Shindou Hikaru NEVER made any sense. But still… this was only his fourth game against the boy, and each of the previous times it felt like he was playing an entirely different person every time.

The next ten hands were just as bizarre, lacking the structure and intent a pro's opening game normally did. What was worse was the time Shindou spent thinking over each move – a good two or three minutes each. Akira found himself suddenly wishing they had a game clock – the game could go for hours without a time limit, especially if his opponent was putting so much thought into each move.

Touya blinked as the other teen laid a stone just one space to the right of the centre of the board, hand hesitating as he reached for his next stone. This was truly baffling. Even as the game progressed, Shindou's play still felt reminiscent of someone who'd only just taken up the game and was randomly plonking down stones, hoping to get lucky, rather than that of a pro. For one frustrating moment, he was sure that he'd returned to that horribly disappointing match he'd had at Kaiou in the school tournament. He had to remind himself that to become a pro there WAS a standard of skill to be met, and for that matter, Shindou HAD defeated Ochi, and the mushroom-headed boy played well. Unless the sho-dan was messing with him again. Sometimes he wasn't sure if his potential rival was hiding his skill from him or not.

Even though he reminded himself to play normally, it was still hard not to be thrown off by Shindou's erratic and seemingly meaningless moves. He'd try to read ahead, but his opponent seemed more than happy to sacrifice stones that he was sure he'd try to defend, making reading ahead almost possible. Even so, the rising go star didn't feel as though he was making the massive inroads of territory that he should be. A glance out of the corner of his eye revealed a similarly puzzled expression on Ogata's face. At least he wasn't just imagining it. He stared at Shindou, whose face had slid into a mask of intense concentration, and he ruled out the possibility of a cruel joke. For the other teen to be showing that sort of intense focus, he had to have a plan.

That thought in mind, Touya stubbornly kept trying to read him, but Shindou responded to only half of his moves - he'd ignore the slight weaknesses that other pros would normally pounce upon, and then ruthlessly attack stones that were only minor threats. It was starting to feel as though they weren't playing the same game. By the time they were approaching mid-game, all Touya could ascertain was that Shindou's goal couldn't possibly be winning. Was he trying to comment on something? Or was his plan just to confuse him and throw him off his game? It was almost working.

Touya clenched his teeth, determined not to lose his temper. Even though it felt like Shindou wasn't playing him seriously, the young pro was forced to admit that even though he was leading, the game was closer than what he'd like, and a comeback was still possible. The almost beginner-style moves had him unconsciously slipping into the mindset that he used for playing amateurs at events or the go salon, and so he'd not played as aggressively as normal.

The silence of the room was only broken by the soft placement of stones. Unseen by the other two observers, Fujiwara no Sai stood by the go board, fan held to lips and brow creased in thought. The ghost had watched the game progress in confusion, for once not entirely certain what was going through Hikaru's mind. Surely he could seek help from the other boy, even if they were supposed to be rivals? He suggested this a moment later, taking advantage of the brief lull while the other boy thought over his next move.

"_I thought of that, but it's not like Touya would believe me if I said anything right now. That bastard thought of everything. Even made me look like a hysterical liar. Dammit, if only my legs weren't so damn stiff from sitting all the time I could have made it!"_

"_You could at least try! If you explained…"_

"_I can't, Sai. Ogata's sitting right there. Besides, if he's determined enough to keep me here for two weeks, there's no telling what he'll do if I can get Touya to believe me. And I don't want to put him through this too,"_ his host replied, eyes not leaving the board.

"_But, Hikaru… if Touya were to go missing too, maybe then someone would notice."_

"_We can't take that chance. Besides, if I were to try and say anything more, Ogata might…"_

"_Ogata might what?"_

"_You mean you haven't noticed?"_

"_Noticed what?"_

"_Never mind then. But I'm doing something about it, don't worry. I won't waste this chance."_

"_Hikaru, tell me!"_

"_Shush, Sai. I need to concentrate on this game."_

At that, the ghost's attention had been diverted back to the truly odd game that was unfolding in front of them. Both Touya and Ogata looked perplexed by Shindou's seemingly erratic moves, made all the more confusing by the eerie sensation that the new pro was the one controlling the game. Despite that, winning didn't seem to be the objective. His protégé was certainly making some interesting moves, but the overall shape was one that Sai had never seen before, and no matter how he played out the game in his mind, at least half of them seemed ultimately meaningless. And it seemed as though Shindou was also making some deliberately bad moves, though Sai couldn't help but suspect that the youth was luring his opponent with them. Could it simply be that the past two weeks had taken such a heavy toll on the youth that he COULDN'T focus on the game? Go was a highly emotional game, after all – those who lost control of their emotions lost focus, and ultimately lost the game as well. It was quite acceptable to think that the prodigy wouldn't perform much better than a beginner under such strenuous conditions – after all, he hadn't eaten in nearly three days, and he'd been unconscious for an awfully long time after Ogata had given him that beating, causing the ghost no end of worry. Even with that excuse, though, this game was ordered – Sai could sense it. There was meaning behind these moves, even if he couldn't see it yet.

It wasn't until the game entered yose that it finally made sense_. "Hikaru…"_ he breathed. Both Ogata and Touya still sported puzzled and pensive expressions. This was… this was truly ingenious. He'd seen every game the boy had played, and this was on a level above any previous.

The game was complete. All being pros, there was no need to officially count territory despite the strange and complex shape on the board. "I lost by six and a half moku, taking komi into account," Hikaru breathed. "Well, I didn't beat you like I'd been promising, but you see, Akira? I'm catching up fast."

"Uh, right," the other teen replied distractedly, apparently still not quite sure what to make of the odd game and unable to form a proper response. "Um, should we discuss it?"

Sai saw his host's shoulder's tense, and wondered if the other occupants of the room noticed it too. "Ah…"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but in light of things, perhaps now is not the best time, Akira?" Ogata smoothly interrupted. "It's getting quite late."

"Oh, of course! My parents will worry – I was supposed to be home hours ago," Touya said, blinking rapidly as he stood. Sai silently urged the other boy to stay, but the youth half-ran to the door, pausing only briefly to glance back at his rival, still looking thoroughly lost and confused. "Thank you for your hospitality, Ogata-sensei. Sorry for intruding."

"Quite all right."

"Wait!" Hikaru called out, Sai having the feeling that the action was simply reflexive. It didn't matter. No one else heard him.

The door shut and the lock clicked with an eerie sense of finality. The ghost watched in trepidation as his friend's captor stood there for a long moment, and then strode back into the room. Trepidation quickly turned to horror as Ogata reached forward and grasped the youth by the shirt, hauling him up so that his feet were barely touching the floor. "What was that game, brat? What were you trying to pull?!"

"What are you talking about? I played normally!"

"The hell you did! That game was all over the place, yet you still managed to get it all the way through yose, and lost by only six and a half moku despite the fact you played like a beginner! And what was with that order of stones?!"

"What did you want me to do?!" Hikaru protested, fingers grabbing at the shirt to stop it choking him. "I was just trying out a new strategy! So it didn't work out – what difference does it make?! It wasn't like it was you I was playing!"

Making a sound of disgust, Ogata threw the teen back against the table, scattering stones and causing the youth to let out a small cry of pain as he slid to the floor. Sai closed his eyes and, for the hundredth time that day, cursed his own helplessness.


	11. Playing Blind

Author's Note: Not much to say about this chapter. Thanks to the people who reviewed though! (Impatient though they may be). :) Reviews are always very inspirational and help remind me to do that little bit extra proof-reading on each chapter, lest you steely-eyed readers discover too many gaping holes in the plot. On a completely different topic, it is becoming difficult to think up good chapter names. Maybe I should have just stuck with numbers? Oh well. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 10 – Playing Blind

By Sinnatious

* * *

It wasn't until long after Touya had returned home that he realised he had never actually received an answer to his original question – why it was that Shindou wasn't turning up to his matches, or school either apparently. He was briefly tempted to call that boy Waya – it shouldn't be too hard to get his contact details from the Go Association - to let him know what he'd seen, but the prospect of having the red-head's ire turned on him for problems beyond his control was not appealing. Besides, it would be awkward, considering that they weren't even friends – heck, they were barely even acquaintances. 

The game, though. The game bothered him as the young pro lay down to sleep that night. It kept him awake until long past midnight, and so Touya had barely managed to drag himself to Kaiou the next morning – though at least it didn't particularly matter if he didn't pay a great deal of attention in school, whereas if he'd had a game his winning streak would have almost certainly ended. Even as he dutifully took notes throughout class, though, his mind was focused squarely on the mystery that was Shindou Hikaru.

It wasn't even the other boy's lack of explanation for his recent forfeitures or unhealthy state that troubled him now - it was purely that game. Sure, he'd won by a comfortable margin, but Akira couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that he'd been puppeteered for the entire game. The sensation was similar to that of his first run-in with the troublesome teen, where they'd ended the game and he'd suddenly realised that a kid his own age had been playing tutoring go with him.

Those initial two games had been pushed from his mind for a long time, as he'd eventually come to the conclusion that he was chasing something that didn't exist. But that wasn't true, was it? Those games HAD happened. Shindou had played two games that were on the level of some of the best Go players in the world some three years ago. It had been frustrating to only catch glimpses of that skill or hear stories from time to time, his excitement continually thwarted by the other youth's utter mediocrity, so eventually he'd dismissed the matter as a mixture of fluke and fantasy - after all, why would such a strong player toil through the ranks of the Insei and content himself with playing low-level pros?

He shook his head irritably. Contemplating the many contradictions of Shindou Hikaru had been something he'd once spent months doing with little to no success. What was really eating him was that game. It had been so bizarre... so many of the decisions his rival had made throughout the set up had made no sense. Fighting over well-protected stones while ignoring more vulnerable ones? Completely bypassing the most obvious course of action in favour of some almost random moves? More than once Akira was certain he'd been baited, but there hadn't been any serious repercussions - had it more been a plan to distract him or lure him away from other areas of the board? It was true that in his pursuit of some of the gaping weaknesses Shindou had left open for him to attack, the other pro had made some decent inroads into his territory, but even then he'd held back in a lot of areas. It really had felt like playing an amateur one move and a pro the next. And the fact that the other player had still managed to get the game into yose despite throwing away so much territory and so many stones chafed him.

Touya wished that he'd simply ignored the time, called his parents and stayed to actually discuss the game. He hadn't however, so he was going to have to settle for re-playing it and trying to work out what the heck his opponent had been thinking, especially since he didn't really have any way to get in contact with his rival again - Shindou probably still wasn't going to his matches or school, and from what that girl had said he likely wouldn't be at home, either.

School felt like it would never end. When the final class was dismissed, Akira hurriedly packed his books and flew out of the classroom as fast as his dignity would allow. He didn't stop by the Go Salon as normal, instead going straight home, dumping his bags and pulling out his go board. It was a difficult game to  
recreate, given the randomness of some of his opponent's moves, but Touya had automatically seared them into his brain; after all, it had been a match he'd been anticipating for some time.

A couple of hours of pouring over the board, however, had left him just as confused as the day before. He was finally startled from his concentration by his father's voice at the door. "Akira? It's dinner time. Your mother sent me to fetch you."

"Oh, right, coming," he replied, covering the bowls and setting them to the side, leaving the board as it was.

"What have you been doing in there all afternoon? Studying hard?" his father asked lightly as he emerged into the hallway. Akira thought the question fair - on the days he went to school, he normally went to the library or Go Salon, so for him to spend the entire afternoon at home was slightly unusual.

"I... I saw Shindou Hikaru yesterday. You know, the new pro you played in the sho-dan series?"

His father gave him a long, searching look. "Really? Where was that? I was under the impression he'd not been going to the Go Association."

"Oh, at Ogata Jyudan's, when I was returning the book. Ogata said he'd run into him on the street. And, well... we played a game."

"I see."

"I won," Akira continued hurriedly, seeing his father's slight shift in expression and quickly dispelling the incorrect assumption before it could be voiced. "By six and a half moku, but it was just... it was a very strange game. I've been trying to make sense of what Shindou was thinking." How could he explain that he'd felt greater purpose in those meaningless moves? It was like the other pro was commenting on something, but what?

"I could take a look at the game after dinner if you want," the former Meijin offered as they entered the dining room.

"Um, well... I'd like to try and sort through it myself first, if that's okay." Touya already knew what the game would look like to most people if they saw it played out - an inexperienced genius fumbling about and then having to continually correct his glaring mistakes. In fact, without context, it looked a lot like a pro having a really bad day. And realistically, that WAS the most reasonable explanation.

That didn't sit right, though. Even though his opponent had looked sickly, his concentration hadn't seemed to suffer at all. When you played enough Go, you started to get a feeling for when an opponent lost their own personal mental battle - their moves became more impulsive and poorly thought out as the game wore on, fidgeting and other bad habits started to show up, and their eyes tended to dart around the board in a panic rather than slide over the stones slowly and calmly. There were always a few players that could manage to keep their poker faces no matter what was thrown at them, but Shindou wasn't one of those yet - whatever was ailing him, it hadn't affected his concentration at all. No matter how crazy the move, he hadn't been flustered or regretful even once. And that was what was really unsettling. That was what made him sure that those random moves hadn't been random at all - Shindou never once winced when a stone was captured or Touya gained territory. That was just unnatural, for a pro OR otherwise.

His unease must have shown on his face, because a moment later his father sternly reminded him, "Akira, don't let yourself get distracted. It's better that you focus on the games directly in front of you. By all means, we must learn from games played in the past, but not at the expense of those being played in the present."

"Of course, father," Akira automatically replied. Both of them knew, of course, that he'd still be found replaying the game later. They were both Go players - they both understood the inability to leave a challenge alone. Akira knew that his father had endlessly replayed that Internet match he'd had with Sai too, and would continue to do so, though he hadn't seemed interested in finding out Sai's identity like all the others before him.

Elsewhere, while the Touya family sat down for dinner, the sho-dan at the centre of all the fuss was fervently wishing for some dinner of his own. It was his fourth day without food, and the mild twinge of hunger had transformed into a gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach, and then later to an unsettling emptiness that left him feeling cold despite the warmth of the room. Whenever Ogata let him use the bathroom, he drank as much water from the tap as he could, as it seemed to help with the ache, though invariably it turned to discomfort in his bladder if his captor didn't let him free for too long.

Sai was quiet when the Jyudan jostled his host back into the room and tied the barely resisting youth back to the chair. For the first couple of days after Hikaru's escape attempt, the Jyudan had largely avoided the teen, but had eventually relaxed some and apparently realised that there weren't going to be any repercussions for his actions, and so now seemed to feel no hesitation in giving the youth a quick slap for any of his troubles. It probably didn't help that the man was still cranky about broken glasses and the close call when Touya had visited.

The door slammed and locked behind the Jyudan – it was early evening, so there was still a bit of light in the room. The pair were silent for a several minutes, Hikaru's breathing sounding unnaturally loud in the stillness.

It was too much. The ghost couldn't take it anymore. _"Hikaru, just let me play!"_ Sai demanded.

"_No!"_ Hikaru shot back, suddenly focusing his eyes on his departed companion. He wavered a little, but stubbornly held his gaze steady.

"_Why not? If you were to let me play, this would solve everything!"_ Sai honestly didn't understand his host's stubbornness in this particular instance.

"_Are you kidding? Against Ogata? It'll completely blow our cover!"_ he argued.

"_Then what do you propose we do? Look at what he's doing to you! You have to get out! He said he'd let you go if you won!" _The ghost was quickly growing frustrated by their inescapable situation. _"You surely don't think you can defeat a title holder already? He's an incredibly strong player, Hikaru."_

"_I'm improving,"_ came the sulky reply.

That was true. Ogata forcing the youth to play game after game against him in such desperate circumstances, not to mention all of the go they'd been playing together to pass the time when Ogata wasn't around, had caused a sudden spurt of growth in the youth's game, especially if the game against Touya Akira was any indication. Defeating such a high-level pro under his own steam was still impossible, though.

"_Hikaru, how much longer? How much longer until you can get out of here?"_

"_I don't know, Sai," _came the tired reply. _"We have to be patient. We had the game, remember? I'm hoping that will speed things up."_

"_Do you really think it'll work, Hikaru? Neither Ogata nor Touya seemed to notice your handiwork."_

"_I was counting on that. Can you imagine what Ogata might've done if he'd realized what I was doing? It was bad enough that he just suspected I was up to something."_

"_Then your plan was for naught?"_ Sai asked, disappointed. It still chafed him that there was so little he could do for his protégé. _"It was so spectacular, too. Playing so many games against a title-holder really did improve you quite a lot. And playing against myself, of course,"_ he added a little self-importantly.

"_I don't know if it'll go to waste…. Touya's going to be completely confused by that game. He's going to replay it over and over again. And even if he doesn't see it, it's always possible that someone else might."_ Hikaru shifted uncomfortably in his seat, testing his bonds out of habit more than hope. _"I admit that it's a long-shot, though. It wasn't that obvious."_

There was a shuffle and slamming of the front door, indicating that the Jyudan had left the apartment. Probably to go drinking. Great. Ogata was always rough with him after he'd been drinking. Hopefully when his captor came home he'd go straight to bed rather than badger him about Sai again.

Hikaru sighed, testing the fabric binds once again. It had been bad enough that the man was tying him up whenever he went out – now, he only ever untied Shindou to let him use the bathroom or play Go. The youth had been too scared of another beating to risk pulling another stunt to escape, or stepping even slightly out of line when the Jyudan was present for that matter. Ogata's temper had become paper-thin, and as the teen was still refusing to let Sai play, it was resulting in a few extra bruises for the youth's ever-expanding collection.

The pair talked for a little while about more mundane matters, reminiscing on past games and discussing various pieces of technology that continued to baffle Sai no matter how many times they were explained to him. Eventually, they lapsed into silence, Shindou hanging his head and trying to fall asleep. Every now and again he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, desperately wishing for the days of the old lumpy futon and trying to remember a time when his shoulders weren't permanently sore.

"_You still can't sleep, Hikaru?"_ Sai asked sympathetically after a while.

Groaning, Hikaru replied, _"I can't say that being tied to this chair is very comfortable."_

"_We could play Go until you're tired enough where it doesn't matter."_

"_Sorry Sai, but in case you've already forgotten – I'm tied up. I can't place stones for either of us."_

This temporarily stumped the spirit. There was a long silence, until finally, the ghost suggested brightly, _"I know! We could play blind Go!"_

"_Blind Go?"_ The young pro had heard of it, of course, but he'd never had the chance to play it. After a beat, he agreed. _"Okay. 5-4."_

"_Eh? Who decided that you were going to play black?"_

"_Of course I'm going to play black! This is my first time playing blind Go!"_

"_Fine! 15-5."_

"_6-14."_

They played long into the night. Hikaru lost the first two games miserably, and finally fell asleep halfway through the third.


	12. Visiting An Empty House

Author's Note: This chapter was surprisingly fun to write. I expect half of the reviewers will enjoy the change of pace, and the other half will demand I make with answers already! Silly reviewers, as if I'm going to answer questions that I'm intending to reveal in the story :) Seriously though, you guys rock.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 11 – Visiting An Empty House

By Sinnatious

* * *

The school bell shrilled and with it came the shuffling of papers and scraping of chair legs as students prepared to either go home for the day or start on club activities. Akari Fujisaki was anxious to get to Go club, since she was planning to leave early in order to stake out Hikaru's house yet again. 

"Miss Fujisaki?"

"Yes, sensei?" Akari asked, trying to hide the impatience in her voice as she paused in making her way out of the classroom.

Their teacher seemed to moving in slow motion, pursing her lips and furrowing her eyebrows in thought while speaking slowly and deliberately. "I was wondering if you'd been able to contact Shindou at all. You are neighbours, correct? The school still hasn't been able to reach anyone by phone."

"Um, yes, we are neighbours, but… no, sorry, I don't know where he is either."

The teacher looked vaguely annoyed, but waved her off with murmured thanks. Akari bowed politely and hurried from the room, making her way to Go club. She honestly didn't know whether to feel anger or worry over her old friend's continued unexplained absence. She kept expecting Hikaru to turn up, completely oblivious to the fuss he'd caused, rub the back of his head sheepishly and explain that it had been a silly mistake and that he was SURE he'd told SOMEONE that he was going away. Day after day passed, though, and there continued to be no sign of him. It was more than just a little troubling. They were supposed to be taking their final middle school exams soon! Hikaru was in enough trouble with not attending school regularly as it was with his Go, how could he make up all that extra missed work on top of that? The teen's only saving grace was his plan to not attend high school, otherwise he'd be in REAL trouble.

Her foul mood must have shown when she stormed into chemistry lab where Mitani and the other club members had already set up the boards.

"Ah, Akari, you're late," Kanako observed, then paused and asked, "Is something the matter? Your face is all weird."

"I… It's… It's Hikaru," she admitted, wringing her hands as she half-collapsed into the nearest chair.

"Shindou?" the portly girl asked in confusion.

"Shindou hasn't been coming to classes for the past couple of weeks," Mitani informed her in a bored voice that indicated he couldn't care less. "So what? He's got something on with that-" His lip curled briefly in disgust. "-_Go Institute_. It's not like it matters – there's no point in getting into a good high school if you're already a pro."

"But that's just it! No one at the Go Institute knows where he is either!" she burst out.

The room fell silent at that. Even the newer members who were less familiar with Hikaru went quiet.

"Wait, you went to the Go Institute?" Kanako asked.

Nodding, she continued, "I met some of the Hikaru's pro friends there, and they were complaining that they couldn't find him anywhere and no one knew where he was. And he hasn't been home that I can see or anything, and I'm starting to get really worried because something might have happened and nobody's there to know and surely even if he forgot to tell the teachers he'd remember to tell the Institute or his friends or somebody but nobody I've spoken to has any idea whatsoever and-"

"Enough!" Mitani snapped, interrupting her nervous babbling. Sighing, he reached over, grabbed her wrist, and started dragging her from the room. "Kanako, you're in charge!"

"I'm – hey, where are _you_ going?!"

"This girl isn't going to stop worrying. So we're going to Shindou's house to sort that jerk out right now and get it over and done with."

Akari felt a brief spike of delight through the haze of concern. "Yuuki, I knew you cared! You and Shindou are still good friends after all!"

"Shut up! We're not friends, and we've never been friends! It's just that we can't expect you to play proper Go if you're not concentrating, and it's not like the club has a surplus of members or anything," the red-head mumbled. "Not that I care what happens to the club. It's just annoying."

They didn't speak any further as they walked to Shindou's house, Mitani eventually releasing her wrist, looking embarrassed - though Akari wasn't certain why. Even so, in what seemed like no time at all, they arrived at the quiet property. She sighed to herself, already knowing just from a glance that Hikaru wasn't home – the curtains on his bedroom were drawn, a guarantee that he was out.

"See? He's not here again – hey, what are you doing?" she demanded. Mitani was crouched in front of the door, fiddling with the lock.

"Stop fretting. My elder sister taught me how to do this when I was kid. It's dead useful sometimes."

"But that's – that's breaking and entering!" she protested.

Throwing her a bored glance, the lazy teen just replied, "What you're really worried about is that he might fallen down the stairs or hurt himself or something, right? What's the point in coming here if we don't check properly? Besides, it's not like we're spying on him or trying to steal anything." The door clicked and swung open smoothly.

Spurred on by concern, she hurriedly followed the red-head into the dark house. Immediately, she sneezed. The residence had a horrible musty smell; the sort that formed after the air in a place hadn't been disturbed for weeks. It reminded her faintly of mothballs and mould.

"Huh, he really hasn't been home at all, has he?" Mitani mused, kicking off his shoes and shuffling deeper into the house. "Oi, Shindou, you idiot, you here? Fujisaki's been worried sick about you!"

Silence was their only response. It prickled against Akari's skin, and she had to resist the urge to shiver. Her old friend's house was familiar territory, but dark and empty like this it felt like a place from which even ghosts would flee. It was unnatural.

She didn't stray much beyond the foyer as Mitani made his way through the rooms, finally eventually thudding back down the stairs with a perplexed expression on his face. "Not here. His parent's room is completely empty, though. Looked as though they packed up their bags to go somewhere. Shindou's is still a mess, though."

"Oh, yes, his parents were going overseas," she reported, still distracted by the odd sensation of not belonging in such familiar surroundings.

Throwing his hands up in the air, her companion exclaimed, "Well, that's it then, isn't it! He went with them at the last minute, and forgot to tell anyone!"

"But you said that his room was still messy. Wouldn't it have been packed up too if that were the case?"

"Not necessarily." Mitani looked irritated that she was daring to contradict his theory.

"And for that matter, his parents had already left when I last spoke to him. Why would he leave a couple of days after they did? That doesn't make any sense."

"Then I don't know." He glanced at the phone nearby, red message light blinking. "He sure has a lot of messages." After pressing a few random buttons, Hikaru's familiar voice started echoing from the speaker, causing them to jerk in surprise.

"_Hi, you've reached the Shindou household, this is Hikaru, I'm not in right now but if you leave a message, I might get back to you. If you're looking for my folks, they're overseas at the moment, and they won't be back for a month, so you'll have to call back then."_

"What kind of idiot announces on the _telephone_ that they're on their own for a month?" Mitani muttered to himself. He pressed a few more buttons, skipping through some of the messages that had been left. Most of them seemed to be from school and the Go Association, but there was a bunch of abusive ones from Waya.

"Maybe we should go to the police," Akari fretted.

"Don't be stupid. That moron Shindou probably just followed his parents after a couple of days and forgot to tell anyone. You know how absentminded that jerk is. Maybe they forgot something important, or one of them got sick while they were travelling or something." He didn't sound terribly sure of that admittedly weak theory, though.

"Still, we're just assuming! What if something really is wrong?! Hikaru could be in trouble, and nobody's doing anything about it! He can be a bit of a space case sometimes, but even he's not this bad!" she pointed out.

Mitani sighed, and gestured around the empty building. "There's no sign of a disturbance or anything, right? And if he'd had an accident or something in public at the very least the school would have found out. What else could it be? An alien abduction?"

"Maybe - maybe he COULD have been abducted," Akari shrilled. Why wasn't anyone else taking this seriously? People didn't just disappear like this! And it shamed her to admit that it had taken her so long to notice. Hikaru was one of her oldest friends; she was supposed to know about these sorts of things! "He's a Go pro, right? Sort of famous? Someone might have kidnapped him!"

Mitani rolled his eyes. "Who in their right mind would bother kidnapping Shindou? Look, even if he HAS become a Go pro, he's barely been one for more than a month or two, right? He's hardly famous - there's a couple of HUNDRED professional Go players, all of them more experienced and higher ranked than he is right now. Besides, who ever heard of ANYONE kidnapping a GO PRO? That sort of thing only ever happens to movie stars or famous athletes."

"I... I guess..." Akari conceded. Even though she'd taken to reading Go Weekly every now and again in an effort to keep up with what Hikaru was doing, she still didn't know a whole lot about the pro world. But even though Mitani's words were logical, they couldn't chase away all of her anxiety - she still had horrid visions in her mind of Hikaru locked up in a dark cellar somewhere, or lying bleeding in some gutter.

Sighing, Mitani started putting his shoes back on in the foyer. "Look, you're just feeling guilty. You didn't notice he was missing until the teacher asked, right?"

Akari flinched and blushed. He'd hit the nail right on the head there. She'd become used to Hikaru missing a lot of school, and having drifted slightly apart over the last two years, they didn't talk as much as they used to, despite her best efforts. She'd felt terrible when the first teacher had asked and she'd realised that she hadn't even noticed, as wrapped up as she'd been in keeping the Go club running. How horrible that he could disappear without anyone the wiser! If she were to vanish someplace, she'd want people to notice immediately.

After a few days of scouting the house and park and other usual haunts for any sign of her erstwhile companion, she'd finally screwed up the courage to go check at the only other place Hikaru might be - the Go Institute. Realistically, she should have gone there first as Go had long become the top priority in her friend's life, but when you live in the house next door it's hard to believe that you won't catch them going to or from at some point, and her disbelief had kept her from making the trip sooner. Then when she'd discovered that neither the Go Institute nor Hikaru's pro friends knew where he was, her imagination had gone into overdrive, and had been spinning out of control ever since.

"Look," Mitani huffed, interrupting her train of thought. "What if we were to call the police and it really DID wind up being nothing? Which is highly likely given the person we're talking about. We'll create a huge fuss and get into trouble for crying wolf. Like you said, people don't just _disappear_. If something happened to him, someone would have found him and notified the school or the Go Institute or something. Even if he didn't tell them himself, and didn't have any ID, someone would find out - that stupid punk hair of his makes him easy to identify. So obviously there isn't anything wrong. No news is good news, right? He was just inconsiderate and didn't tell anyone that he was skipping town for a few weeks. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if he was running off to Korea or China or something to face Go pros there, he's so full of himself."

"That's mean, Yuuki!" Akari protested, though there was a slight smile tugging her lips at the thought. Hikaru could be a bit like a bull in a China shop sometimes, especially when it came to Go. She still remembered his antics when they went to tutoring together.

"Come on, he'll turn up. We've at least confirmed that he hasn't broken his neck falling down the stairs, right? You should be satisfied. Now let's get back to club - there ought to still be enough time for one or two rounds of speed go." Mitani held open the door for her.

"Right. Of course. I'm going to give that jerk a piece of my mind when he turns back up, though!" she huffed, forcing a smile to her face as she slid her own shoes back on and slipped back out into the welcoming sunlight, away from the dark, dusty, ominous house that felt so wrong despite being so ordinary.

Still, it had been nice of Mitani to come with her and actually enter the house – it had set at least one of her fears to rest. "Thanks for coming, Yuuki," she murmured. He had his back to her, but she could see the tips of his ears turn bright red.

"I didn't come for HIM, you know."

Grinning, she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Even though he denied it, she knew Mitani was a little worried too. He and Hikaru had been good friends for a while after all, and if Hikaru hadn't become an Insei they probably would still be. In fact, it was probably just stubbornness on Yuuki's part that was keeping the relationship strained.

Still… where _was_ Hikaru? Was it really so simple? Would he really just turn up, embarrassed and perfectly fine, muttering apologies for the worry he'd caused? Akari desperately wanted to believe it was so, but couldn't shake the sinking feeling in the pit of her gut.

It didn't matter. She'd done all she could. His parents were bound to be back soon, anyway. There wasn't anything that could be done until then.


	13. Resignation

Author's Note: Been busy this week, so despite the shorter chapter it still took the same update time. Next chapter is pretty short too, so expect that sometime Monday.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 12 – Resignation

By Sinnatious

* * *

On his sixth day without food and into through his third week trapped in Ogata's apartment, Hikaru fainted. At least, he thought that he'd fainted - tied to the chair, it was always possible he'd just fallen asleep, but he and Sai had been playing blind Go at the time when the world had started spinning lazily, so it probably wasn't just an impromptu nap. 

_"Hikaru! Hikaru, are you okay? You just stopped talking all of a sudden, and then you wouldn't answer for ages!"_

_"Sorry Sai, I must have fallen asleep,"_ the youth responded slowly. He didn't want to worry the hyperactive ghost too much.

_"Am I so boring?"_ Sai asked with a light smile. In an odd turnaround, it seemed as though the ghost was working to keep his spirits up instead of the other way around, as was usually the case.

_"Horribly so,"_ Hikaru retorted half-heartedly. He tried to grin, to reassure his companion, but had the sensation that it probably came off more like a grimace. His stomach was complaining again - the discomfort came and went now, and he could go for hours without really noticing his hunger, but then later his gut would be filled with a dull pain; similar to the sensation of having a particularly bad stomach ache, or retching after throwing up. The attempt at a smile slid from his face and he hung his head again, despair bubbling up within him. He wasn't even sure of what day of the week it was anymore. How long was there left until his parents would return and someone would finally come looking for him?

He jerked upon hearing the thudding footsteps that always heralded Ogata's approach. A moment later, the door swung open and the Jyudan entered, cigarette half-dangling from his lips as he removed his captive's bonds. The sho-dan massaged his shoulders for a few moments, before Ogata yanked him to his feet and marched him into the living room. Hikaru was starting to hate the sight of the living room almost as much as the guest room.

"Bathroom," he protested when he saw the go board already set up. With an annoyed huff, the Jyudan pushed him towards the bathroom. Wearily, Hikaru closed the door behind himself, locked it simply because it made him feel better, then wondered how long he could last in there if he held the door closed against Ogata. Probably not long, but it would be better leaning against the door on cold bathroom tiles than being tied to a chair for hours on end. On the other hand, the consequences for his rebellion would not be worth it, so Hikaru wasted no time in going to toilet, gulping as much water from the tap as he could, and washing his hands and face. He carefully avoided looking the mirror, not really wanting to see what he looked like – his hair at the very least had to be a fright.

He reluctantly shuffled back into the living room, and Ogata herded him over to the go board and handed him the bowl of black stones. The first game was played in absolute silence, the breaks between each move growing longer and longer as the game progressed. The teen wasn't playing particularly badly, but concentrating and keeping his nerve felt sort of like stirring molasses with a paper straw. The Jyudan huffed impatiently over how slow he was being, but Hikaru forced himself not to get jumpy and make his move before he was ready – that had cost him plenty of games before. Besides, it wasn't like they were playing with a clock. Even if it was habit to take only a certain amount of time for each game, the elder pro theoretically shouldn't be able to complain about his sluggishness. Especially considering that the elder starving him was the _cause_ of the sluggishness.

Giving it his best, the teen almost made it into yose, but when he read through the end game, he still lost. The Jyudan would never make mistakes in yose – continuing was a waste of time. "I resign."

"Hn. Again. We'll nigiri this time." Ogata picked up a handful of stones. Hikaru placed down one. It came up even, so the sho-dan was white.

The Jyudan placed his first stone on the lower left star point. As the youth reached for a white stone to respond, though, he hesitated. Slowly, he withdrew his hand and stared at the board in silence for a long moment. His captor lit a cigarette.

The agony of indecision held him in its grip for a long moment, but Hikaru had already recognised his plight. His plans had already been laid, but it would be meaningless if he couldn't last until they came to fruition.

"_Sai…"_

"_Yes, Hikaru?"_ Sai responded, voice soft, curious as to what his host wanted.

"_You play."_

For a moment, the ghost was overwhelmed with the familiar joy he always felt when he was allowed to play Go. That quickly waned, though, as the reality of the situation settled back in. Despite his own selfish desires, Sai understood Hikaru's motivations in not allowing him to play. Even if the youth had come leaps and bounds in a startling short period of time, there was still a noticeable gap in their skill level. The lie would be exposed, and no matter how creative a liar he may have become, there was little Hikaru would be able to do to escape from it.

"_Are you sure?"_ he asked, holding his fan to his lips. Hikaru had already sacrificed so much to keep his secret… why would he give up now?

"…_.Not really. But I can't beat him myself."_

"_You honestly thought you could?"_ Sai asked in surprise.

"_No…. I just hoped that if I played him enough, he'd get tired of it and give up. But…. I need to eat, Sai."_

Sai was torn between guilt and anger at those words. As a ghost, with no bodily needs of his own, it was easy for him to forget that Hikaru required such basic necessities.

"_I…. Very well."_

Calmly, the thousand-year old ghost instructed his host to place each stone. After the first twenty hands, the Jyudan hesitated, and glanced at the teen suspiciously. Soon, the title-holder had no time for suspicion, as he was too busy concentrating on the game to look anywhere other than the board. Sai himself was focused whole-heartedly on the game – the Jyudan was a difficult opponent, the likes of which he had not faced since the Meijin, and he was under pressure to win. After all, this game had more than just the path to the Divine Move riding on it.

The shape grew complex, subtle traps were laid and avoided, and black and white stones curled around each other on the board in a deadly dance of life and death. The ghost did not allow any mistakes, and was privately thrilled at the ingenious responses to his threats the Jyudan made. The game the man played was very clinical, Sai discovered, getting a better feel of his opponent as they moved through the mid-game, and his logic was flawless. Still, the ghost had far more experience.

"_7-14,"_ Sai instructed. Hikaru dutifully laid the stone, and the game was decided.

It took another three moves for Ogata to realise what had happened. His hand stilled in the bowl of stones, and he adjusted his glasses several times, as though not believing what he was seeing. His cigarette lay forgotten in the ashtray next to the board.

Eventually, as though in a trance, the blonde pro muttered, "I resign."

Sai almost sighed with relief. It had been a difficult match, but he'd managed to win by what would have been a comfortable three and a half moku. It truly had been a wonderful game – not quite the calibre of his game against Touya Kouyo, but certainly approaching it. He was only vaguely aware of Hikaru speaking in the background.

"There, I won. Are you happy?"

The go-obsessed ghost didn't like the look of that glint in Ogata's eyes. "You really are Sai…. This game…. You can't fake this kind of skill. This is the skill that defeated the Meijin."

"Hey! You got what you wanted! I beat you! Now let me go!" the youth demanded, though Sai noticed with some trepidation that his charge's voice was unusually tight.

"Let you go? Why would I do that? You're Sai! The legendary Sai, who beat even Touya Kouyo, is sitting right here in my living room! If I let you go, you could go play anyone! You DO know that the only way a Go player can get stronger is by playing stronger opponents, don't you? If I play Sai everyday, not just the Jyudan title - I could get all of the titles! And then… the Hand of God… if I were to let you go, you'd just waste it again, hiding behind that veneer of mediocrity. Or worse, you'll play Touya-sensei again, or Akira, and THEY'LL be the ones to benefit! No, you're not going anywhere!"

Sai felt his horror mounting as Ogata's voice grew louder and louder as he continued his monologue and Hikaru's head hung lower and lower.

"At least… at least give me some food?" It pained the ghost to hear how broken his host's voice had become. "You said that if I played properly, you'd give me food, right?"

"Of course, of course," the Jyudan said dismissively, eyes still roving over the game that had just taken place.

"_No! You said you'd let him go!"_ Sai protested, even though he knew his words had no way of reaching the Jyudan's ears. He snapped his fan shut, clenching it so tightly it should have broken.

Hikaru closed his eyes and just shook his head, and Sai had the horrible feeling that the teen had known this would happen all along.


	14. Making Messes

Author's Note: Just a short chapter today, so don't be expecting a lot from it. Next chapter is looking to be relatively short too, so it should hopefully go up on Wednesday or Thursday. Normally I would stitch these sorts of chapters together, but dang it, it would just feel awkward ending these chapters anywhere else.

A few reviewers were wondering how long a human can last without food. The usual mantra is '3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food'. Easy to remember, ne? Hope that clears things up for people.

Hikaru's plight continues to worsen. What's the saying? Things get a lot worse before they get better? So don't start making guesses yet!

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 13 – Making Messes

By Sinnatious

* * *

Stopping by the newsstand closest to the Go Association, Touya picked up the latest issue of Go Weekly and flipped automatically to that week's results. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Shindou had scored another two forfeits. That made over three weeks since he had stopped coming to matches. One week could be explained away easily enough. Two weeks would sting a little on the record, but would be smoothed over quickly. Three weeks caused damage to a reputation. Especially to a brand-new sho-dan. 

Disgusted, he folded the paper up and stuck it in his bag. What was the other boy thinking?! Sure, his rival hadn't been looking the greatest when they'd last met, but surely whatever the issue was, it would have been sorted by now! Maybe he ought to go speak with Ogata to see if the Jyudan had extracted any more information from the teen after he'd left – the elder pro had missed their last study session, so he hadn't had a chance to speak with him since. The newly-minted title holder had been so standoffish lately; it was rather odd. He'd go wring it out of Shindou himself, but if friends and neighbours couldn't get a hold of the missing teen, Touya didn't like his own chances. And lightning didn't strike in the same place twice.

"Just this issue of Go Weekly….. thanks," a familiar voice muttered behind him, accompanied by the jingle of coins in a pocket. "Ah! Again! I don't believe this! Morishita-sensei is going to go ballistic!"

Reflexively, Touya turned around, catching sight of a quickly-growing familiar head of red hair. "Waya?"

The other sho-dan glanced at him somewhat distractedly. "Oh, Touya. Hey." After a minute, the red-head seemed to remember that he was supposed to hate the other pro and sent a token glare in his direction, before reverting his attention back to the magazine held in his hand. "Can you believe this? Shindou forfeited ANOTHER match!"

"You have to buy Go Weekly to find that out?"

"Our schedules haven't overlapped lately," the camouflage-clad youth replied absently.

"So you still haven't seen him, then?"

"Of course I haven't! He's just vanished! Shindou's always been a little weird, running off and doing things without telling anyone and spacing out all the time, but I never thought he'd just completely disappear like this! It's like he skipped town or something."

Touya was briefly tempted to correct the other teen, and let him know of his chance encounter at Ogata's, but hesitated and eventually dismissed the idea. It would just get Waya worked up for nothing – and after all, it wasn't like Touya knew what had happened to his rival after that bizarre match. For all he knew, Shindou COULD have skipped town after their game a week ago.

"It really is a mystery. Anyhow, I suppose I'd best get going. Hopefully he turns up soon," Touya said politely, bowing slightly as he passed the other teen who was still leafing through the paper.

"Why would you care anyway?" Waya muttered, clearly not paying much attention to the conversation. "Dammit, I really don't want to turn up at Morishita-sensei's alone again this afternoon…. I wonder if Saeki…"

The red-head's murmurings were lost in the wake of a passing car as Touya Akira made his way home. He had homework to attend to that night, but tomorrow there was a match scheduled for the afternoon. In the morning, then, he could replay the game one more time.

It was always 'just one more time', and it would probably continue to be so until the next puzzle or challenge presented itself, distracting him from his current endeavour. Or until he figured out the secrets that his rival's game contained. Akira could admit that much to himself. Yes, he already considered Shindou a rival – even without playing an official match, he could sense in his very bones that this was the person destined to challenge him, to be his peer and his equal. He'd always sensed it, and when evidence seemed to fly in the face of that sensation, he'd become angry and upset and disenchanted. Shindou had eventually proven his initial predictions right, so it was frustrating that right when he thought the mystery solved, right when they were almost face-to-face, the teen had become elusive once again.

Resolutely, he pushed the issue from his mind. Rival though Shindou might be, he was not going to waste any more time dwelling on the frustrating youth that day.

Unfortunately, that was directly against the desperate wishes of the teen in question, currently awaiting Ogata's inevitable appearance at the door demanding a match with Sai. Having long grown bored, yet not feeling up to another game of blind go, he'd taken to mentally urging Touya to see the meaning in his game, as though somehow his thoughts could reach the other pro. It was ridiculous, but at this point in time, Shindou was willing to try just about anything to escape, including long-distance telepathy. Ogata had at least fed him while still on a high from the game with Sai, but the only thing he'd been given since was a couple of soggy rice balls, and his stomach was roiling with hunger once again.

The door swung open and Ogata strode into the room, looking mildly cheerful, still gloating over finally wearing the young pro down and forcing him to admit the truth – or at least what he thought was the truth. "Come on, brat, let's play."

Hikaru stood from the seat once his limbs were free, rubbing his wrists and trying to hide the weakness he felt. Ogata had exchanged the ties for power cords the day before after the one restraining his left ankle had come loose, and the plastic was not nearly as forgiving on his skin as the fabric had been. Mutely, he trailed after the Jyudan into the living room, faintly delighted to spy a store-bought bento box sitting next to the Go board. As soon as they sat down, he tore into the lunch with the fervour of a wild animal – it was only Ogata's upturned lip that kept him using chopsticks instead of his hands. They started playing almost immediately, the youth relieved that at least if Sai was playing, it meant he didn't have to concentrate on the moves so much and could focus on eating.

About halfway through the bento, though, his appetite waned considerably. Undaunted, he forced himself to keep eating between placing stones, though at a more sedate pace – after all, who knew when elder pro would feed him again?

The game progressed rather quickly, Ogata eventually resigning. "You're actually still improving," he mused as he leaned back and lit a cigarette. The man was going to give himself lung cancer at the rate he smoked the things. "Remarkable."

Sai was improving, not him, but there was no point in correcting the other pro on it. Hikaru just grunted in response, suddenly feeling queasy. He chewed a mouthful of rice slowly, practically forcing himself to swallow it, before finally conceding defeat and setting his chopsticks down, wondering if he might be able to sneak some food into his pockets or something to eat stealthily later, in case the Jyudan didn't bother feeding him again. Sure, it was gross, but better than starving – he couldn't eat while tied to the chair, obviously, but he might be able to sneak it in when he was allowed a bathroom break.

"Another game," Ogata ordered, eyes shining. Rather than being disgruntled as most pros were when they continually lost, the man seemed to practically delight in the challenge. Though it was true that Sai's games here were amazing – the challenge of a harder opponent revealing deeper and deeper depths to his skills. The sho-dan figured he should just count himself lucky that the Jyudan didn't seem interested in discussing the games as was custom, perhaps sensing that discussion with an unwilling participant would be largely useless.

They performed nigiri, and Hikaru came up black again. With Sai whispering guidance in his ear, he robotically placed the stones, mentally analysing the game as they played by habit, though eventually he found himself becoming distracted by the growing waves of nausea washing over him. The bento appeared to be disagreeing somewhat violently with him, and as the game progressed it only became worse.

"_Hikaru, 17-3," _Sai murmured.

Should his tongue feel so thick in his mouth? Why wouldn't his stomach just behave, instead of going all topsy-turvy at a time like this?

"_17-3. Hikaru, I said 17-3."_

It was reminiscent of that time he'd eaten all that bad sushi at Akari's birthday party when they were kids. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant memory, and in fact the recollection just made the current sensation worse.

"_Hikaru, are you okay?"_

He couldn't hold it in anymore – his body was trying it hardest to reject the food, no matter how valiantly he tried to ignore the nausea. Abruptly, the sho-dan stood and half-ran, half-staggered away from the table, making his way to the bathroom.

"HEY! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?"

Hikaru wasn't even aware that Ogata had followed him until he felt the tug on the back of his shirt. In half a breath, the Jyudan whirled him around slapped him hard across his face. Stumbling, he fell to his knees, stomach lurching as he took a kick to his chest, then his shoulder. When a blow landed on his abdomen, he finally lost the battle and spewed the contents of his stomach onto the carpet of the hallway.

The Jyudan swore loudly, withdrawing from the miserable teen crouched on the carpet who was staring mournfully at the half-digested remains of his bento. The sho-dan's throat burned and there was a horrible acrid aftertaste in his mouth, leaving him unsure whether it was that or the throbbing pain of his bruised body that was bringing tears to the corners of his eyes.

Making a sound of disgust, apparently finally realising that his intention had not been escape after all, Ogata grasped Hikaru under the arms and dragged him to the bathroom, unceremoniously throwing the teen in headfirst.

The side of the teen's skull collided painfully with the edge of the tub, and the world turned blissfully dark, relieving him of his living nightmare.


	15. Taunting Freedom

Author's Note: Another excerpt-ish chapter, though I consider this one to be quite important. Feel free to disagree with me. Anyhow, next update won't be until the weekend, so hold tight until then, amigos! Also, thanks for the many thoughtful reviews.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 14 – Taunting Freedom

By Sinnatious

* * *

Hikaru woke suddenly, sitting up and pushing back the bed covers before he even registered what he was doing. Light streamed in through the edges of his curtains. 

Wait, curtains?

In mild disbelief, the sho-dan glanced about himself in confusion. He was sitting up in bed, wearing his usual black tracksuit, in his room at home. The curtains were drawn, and his bedside clock displayed the time as 7:00. The faint twitter of birdsong from outside seemed unnaturally loud. His go board sat on the floor where he'd left it, with a half-finished recreation of his latest game upon it. That was right – he and Sai had been discussing it the night before.

The night before…. Wait…. Ogata…. had it all been a dream?

He breathed a long sigh of relief, and glanced at the clock again. It read 9:15. His brow furrowed slightly.

"_Hikaru!"_

"Ack, Sai!" The ghost had been nowhere to be seen a second ago. Where had he been hiding?

His friend waved his arms excitedly, causing his long white sleeves to flap about in an undignified manner. _"You're awake! Great! Let's play Go!"_

"_Not before breakfast!"_

"_Just a few hands, then!"_

"_No!"_ Hikaru shoved back the bedcovers and started ruffling through his closet for clothes to wear. _"I've got a match this afternoon, and chores and homework to do before that. And every time we start playing 'just a few hands' it winds up being a whole game!"_

The Heia-period spirit pouted, folding his arms. _"That's only because you lack the discipline to stop."_

"_Look who's talking: 'Just one more move, Hikaru! Just one more'!" _The sho-dan laughed out loud as he shrugged on his t-shirt. Hesitating, he grabbed a thick jacket from the closet as well. For some reason he felt cold, even though the weather looked to be fine outside. _"Come on, let's go downstairs."_

His steps grew cautious as the teen neared the kitchen, however – there was the clatter of silverware within, and the lights were on. How was that possible, though? No one else was supposed to be home.

"Oh, Hikaru!" his mother declared cheerily as he reached the entranceway. "I was just about to come wake you up!" She was standing at the kitchen counter, untying her apron.

"I… aren't you supposed to be…" he stuttered.

"There was a bit of problem at your father's company. They called him back as soon as the conference finished – he left for work very early this morning."

"Oh, um, welcome home. Why didn't you call?" It was all extremely unexpected.

"Well, we wanted surprise you! And there wasn't much time. We barely made the flight in time, and when we got in last night it was so late and we didn't want to wake you so… oh, I just finished making you breakfast. You've got a match today, right?"

How had she known? "Yeah… but…"

She laid a plate out in front of him, smiling worriedly. "Well, do your best. I do wish you'd attend school more often… but I suppose…"

Hikaru woke with a start, gasping for breath, and then had to resist the urge to cry.

A dim room with plain walls surrounded him once again.

It wasn't Ogata's apartment that was the dream. It was his freedom.

"_Oh, you're awake! Are you okay, Hikaru?"_ Sai asked, hovering worriedly by his side.

"_Is Ogata in?"_

"_He tied you back up while you were still unconscious. He left about an hour ago to go somewhere. It's just after midday."_

"I see," he replied out loud. "I'm fine, it was just a dream." It was hard not to laugh at the situation though. It wasn't the first time he'd dreamt that he'd woken up as normal at home – once he'd even dreamt that he'd woken up at school. Ogata had stormed in and interrupted his nap right in the middle of Akari making fun of him for dozing off in class.

"_I was asking about your head. You hit it pretty hard. I was really worried."_

"Oh." Come to think of it, the hairline near his left temple was throbbing a little, and there was a promise of a killer headache brewing in the back of his head. "It's a little sore, but nothing to worry about. I'm not bleeding, right?"

"_No. You have a little bump, but that's it."_

"It should be okay then. It's only-" Hikaru's voice caught suddenly.

There was a thin line of light glimmering at him like water on the surface of a desert.

Ogata had forgotten to lock the door.

"_Hikaru?"_ Sai asked, confused.

The sho-dan didn't respond, eyes fixated on the sliver of light that gave a tantalising glimpse into the empty apartment beyond. His jaw had gone slack. Had the Jyudan really left the apartment without being aware of this oversight?

A chance.

The teen shifted uncomfortably in his seat, cursing the fact that not two days before the ties had been replaced by power cords. Or was it before that? He couldn't quite remember. It was like Ogata was psychic or something. Why did he always have to have the absolute _worst_ luck?

It didn't matter though – this was a brand new opportunity that couldn't be wasted. "Sai," he croaked. "You're sure Ogata's not home?"

"_Of course. Why?"_

"The door is open."

The spirit went silent, fan covering his mouth in a gesture of surprise. _"Come to think of it, I didn't hear the lock click…. What are you doing, Hikaru?"_

The sho-dan had started twisting his hands desperately behind his back, stretching his fingers to try and pluck at the cord in vain hope of loosening it enough to get free. The plastic rubbed brutally against his skin, digging painfully into his wrists when he stretched his hands, but he ignored it, eyes focused firmly on that sliver of tantalising freedom while he tried to twists in his chair, fighting with more vigour than he had even in the beginning to get free.

Minutes ticked by soundless in his head as he wrenched his bonds, shifting his body as much as he could within the confines of the chair. Sai remained quiet while he struggled, occasionally making a brief sound of support. After a while though, when the sho-dan's breath started to come in short gasps from the exertion of his efforts, he quietly suggested, _"Maybe you should stop, Hikaru. It doesn't seem to be working."_

"I can't stop!" he snapped back. "This might be my chance to get out! Even if I escaped this stupid chair before, the damn door was still in the way, but this time the way out is RIGHT THERE. If only... I... could... get... free!" Each word was enunciated with a frustrated tug at his bound arms.

_"Hikaru..."_

Soon his breaths degenerated into sobs, each tug only seeming to make the cords wind tighter around his wrists and ankles. Eventually he went limp, exhausted from the effort, hands and feet numb, and stared balefully at that mocking sliver of light.

It was torture, just sitting there, staring at possible freedom. It was taunting him, like an itch he couldn't scratch. It was a thousand times worse than just being tied to the chair. A part of him wondered if Ogata had just left the door ajar simply to tease him, to drive home just how impossible his escape was. The man clearly had sadistic tendencies, after all.

He was tired. He was hungry. His entire body ached, his mouth still had a horrible lingering aftertaste of vomit, and he felt unnaturally cold and empty. Despair felt like a liquid bubbling up his throat, until it felt as though he could drown in it.

It was more than just the desire to get out and see the sky again. The young pro was starting to feel that if he didn't escape from his prison soon, he might never be able to. He was constantly scared, now, his heart leaping into his throat every time Ogata so much as looked at him, terrified of the notion that if he couldn't find some way to escape, he really might not live.

It wasn't even his ailing health that concerned him the most, other than the fact that it made it more and more difficult to muster the energy he needed in situations like this one. It was, instead, the chilling knowledge that Ogata had backed himself into a corner in his blind lust for strength. The elder go-player has committed a serious crime, after all. To begin with, it wouldn't have been such a big deal – had he only kept him captive for a couple of days, no one would have really noticed, and the man knew that Hikaru would be reluctant to tell anyone of it, because to do so would be to expose his own secrets. But he hadn't counted on the young pro's stubbornness, and it had dragged on for so long that people would start to notice. The Go Institute wouldn't think much of someone missing a match or two, or even a week's worth of commitments, but a month? Everybody would be asking questions.

They would, wouldn't they? If not the Go Institute, then at least the school. Waya or Akari or somebody. Even if Touya never understood that game they played, maybe he'd get frustrated enough to come ask Ogata about it? Surely someone cared that he was missing. Surely…

Then why hadn't anyone come yet? It had been over three weeks.

Had no one really noticed? Or had they noticed, and just not cared? Did they simply not bother looking?

Was this what Sai felt like? Trapped and invisible, with only one person in the world aware of his existence?

The sliver of light winked at him – probably a faint draft coming in from somewhere causing the door to shift ever so slightly. Hikaru had to resist the urge to swear at it.

Sai sighed off the left, but the youth paid him no mind. So what if no one else noticed? His parents were bound to be back any day, surely, and even if no one else did, they certainly _would _notice their son's absence.

Still, Ogata must know that too. And that was the real concern. The Jyudan must be hearing the ticking clock, wondering how long it would be before someone would discover what he'd done. Akira already knew that the Jyudan had been one of the few people to see him – how long until the other pro started to get suspicious? And it wasn't even just holding him there against his will anymore – he'd been tied to a chair, deprived of food, beaten up – wasn't that assault and battery? Ogata's list of crimes was growing ever longer. It was becoming inevitable that police would eventually be involved. And all of the Jyudan's hard-earned skill at Go would be useless in prison, where he doubted the man would even get to play.

This was what Hikaru was beginning to fear the most, every time he felt those cold blue eyes settle on him. That Ogata would simply dispose of the evidence, to prevent anyone ever finding out.

"_Hikaru, want to play some more blind go?"_ Sai piped up, obviously trying to cheer him up in the wake of this latest failure at escape.

"_Maybe later, Sai,"_ the teen mentally murmured in response, hands twitching behind his back. The movement sent prickles down his arms, and he sighed, cursing his rotten luck. What were the odds of running into Ogata in the street like that? Why had he opened his stupid mouth in the first place? Why had he agreed to come to this foul place? Why hadn't he made a break for it when he was first confronted, before being locked away in this room?

He shook his head. It was stupid to keep dwelling on the what-ifs and could-have-beens. Still, it was hard not to be frustrated at his slowness to react and blindness to the potential of how dangerous Ogata's obsession could be.

The room grew darker as the sun set and twilight set in, and the sliver of light faded. Hikaru desperately tried to loosen his bonds a few more times, to no avail. Eventually, there was the distant jingle of keys turning in the lock, indicating Ogata's arrival home. He sat there, head hung low, as the man moved into the apartment, creating a small clatter as he dumped his things and fetched a drink from the kitchen – the sho-dan had become rather familiar with the sounds associated with this routine. Soon, the footsteps came closer to the room, paused, and then came in quick succession, the door swinging inwards with a gush of air as the Jyudan pushed it open.

The brief look of panic on the elder pro's face quickly transformed into relief, then smugness. Hikaru didn't even bother moving. The chance was gone, and there was no way that Ogata would forget to lock the door again now.


	16. Go Pro Instincts

Author's Note: So, a good ninety percent of the reviewers saw this coming from a mile away, but then again it was pretty obvious. Oh, also thanks to TenshiReike for the Go terms which would have been very useful earlier on – but even though they don't do me much good for chapter names now, it's still cool to know them. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Oh, and before people start getting excited, Hikaru's not quite out of the woods yet. I'm enjoying writing in this genre again way too much to resolve things that quickly. Selfish, I know. ;) Thanks for putting up with me, and don't forget to review and berate me for my selfish ways!

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**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 16 – Go Pro Instincts

By Sinnatious

* * *

A phone trilled through the quiet Touya household. The retired Meijin set aside the book he was reading, listening for a moment, then recalled that his wife had gone out to do the shopping and Akira was holed up in his room and thus unlikely to hear it. He shuffled into the hallway where the phone was located and picked it up off the receiver on its sixth ring. 

"Took you long enough. Getting slow in your old age, eh, Touya?"

How on earth Kuwabara knew it was him who'd picked up the phone he'd never guess. It was just one of the veteran player's quirks. "Kuwabara. It's a pleasure to hear from you again."

Touya Kouyo was mildly surprised to receive the call from the elderly pro - while they were old friends, they had not been meeting or talking at all regularly for the past couple of years, as the retired Meijin's schedule had become somewhat ridiculous after the acquisition of his fifth title and Kuwabara became increasingly reclusive in his old age. Still, it had only been a matter of time until the Honinbou titleholder called to weigh in on his sudden retirement. If anything, the real shock was that he'd waited this long.

"How have you been? Heard about your heart attack." The tone of voice seemed to suggest that the other man already knew the answer – and who didn't, with Go Weekly's religious reports on his status – but was asking anyway to remain polite.

"It was only a minor attack, so there's no need to worry."

"Hn. It's shameful really – I'm so fit, and here's a youngster like you having heart attacks!" The elderly pro let out a wheezing laugh that degenerated into a cough.

"The lifestyle change has taken care of that," he informed the Honinbou. "I'm feeling the healthiest I have in years."

"Healthy or not, what do you think you're doing, retiring like that?" Kuwabara rasped into the phone. "Those young whippersnappers think they're all part of some new wave. I can hardly hold the impudent wretches back all by myself." The words  
were spoken only half in jest, Kouyo knew.

"I'm sure you'll be able to hang on to the Honinbou title for a few more years yet," he assured the other pro, though privately he was beginning to doubt it. Kuwabara was a brilliant go player, but he wasn't just old anymore - he was practically ancient. His mind was slowly beginning to slip - not by a lot, but the ability to read just one more move ahead made all the difference at the highest levels. The Honinbou knew it too, and had started to resort to dirtier tactics and mind games to unseat his more threatening opponents. The former Meijin didn't personally approve of such techniques, but they were still perfectly valid. In all honesty, though, he didn't know why the other man hadn't just retired already, 'new wave' or not. Retiring was the best thing he'd ever done, and Kuwabara was a good fifteen to twenty years older.

"Che." It was clear his old friend wasn't impressed by his cavalier attitude towards youngsters threatening their experience and authority. "Now that there's five whole titles up for grabs, the little urchins will start getting ideas. I'm going to have to make a run for some of them just to keep them in check."

"I don't think this 'new wave' that Go Weekly is so fond of talking about is not such a bad thing," he replied bemusedly.

"Of course you don't! Your son is the worst of the lot of them!"

"One teenager is hardly a new wave." Kouyo was firmly enjoying himself now. He was already immensely proud of his son, but the knowledge that his progeny was already threatening to his old colleague made him even more so.

"Not just him – there's that Shindou boy too," Kuwabara snapped. "Though the brat hasn't been going to his matches. You know anything about that?"

Surprised at the sudden turn in the conversation, he asked, "No more than anyone else. What makes you think I would?"

"Hrm." He could hear the elderly pro chewing on his lip thoughtfully. Abruptly, the old pro announced, "I saw that match you had on that machine."

"Ah, the NetGo match?" Go Weekly had acquired the kifu of his online game against Sai somehow - no doubt one of the many spectators of the match had sent it in.

"Don't know how you can play on one of those rotten contraptions," Kuwabara muttered.

"I have to admit, I much prefer a face to face game myself, but it was an unusual circumstance."

"Hmn. It was a good match." The words were grudging, but coming from his cranky old acquaintance, it was extremely high praise. The Honinbou had long admitted that the former Meijin was his equal or better, but he was reluctant to extend such praise to anyone else. "Who was it?"

"An amateur internet player known as Sai," he responded evenly.

"That was no amateur."

"There are plenty of strong amateur players as well. Some stronger than many pros."

"Not like this one, though. You know what it reminded me of?"

"What?"

"That sho-dan series match you played against Shindou Hikaru."

Was Kuwabara fishing for Sai's identity? He didn't seem the type, though the old man had been more paranoid of young talent of late. "The two games did feel similar, I agree, though they were quite different."

"Why do you think the boy hasn't been going to his matches?"

"I believe I already told you that I have no idea."

"You don't know the reason, of course. But you don't have any suspicions?"

He had more than a couple, none of which he'd share with the wily old pro. "Why are you so interested?"

"Just been having a bad feeling about it, is all," came the grumbled reply. Kouyo said nothing to that. He was not one to place much merit in 'hunches' or 'feelings', but Kuwabara had a legendary sense of intuition. Some of the younger members in his study group joked that it was his old bones. After a brief pause, the other pro muttered, "Just because I don't want these youngsters getting uppity on us doesn't mean I ain't interested in seeing how far they can go."

It was an unusual admission from the Honinbou, and vaguely troubling, as it alluded to a genuine worry on the old man's part. He briefly toyed with the idea of telling Kuwabara about his son's unofficial match with the elusive sho-dan to allay any fears, but given that Akira had thus far expressed a desire to keep it to himself, he held his tongue. "I'm sure he's fine. The popular theory at the moment is that the Institute might have misplaced some paperwork alerting them of a planned absence."

"Heh. It does seem like something that lot would do. They're always running around like a bunch of headless chickens every time I stop by." Kouyo smiled amusedly at the phone. They likely ran around like headless chickens because any time Kuwabara turned up it was rather like letting a cat loose in a henhouse.

"Anyhow, I shouldn't be keeping you from your relaxing retired lifestyle," continued the Honinbou. "But we'll have to have a game sometime - now that I can't expect to be meeting you in any of title matches. Really thought you'd go for all seven for a while there."

"I doubt anyone would have the time to manage all seven. But I would certainly enjoy another match with you. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"At least you're still playing Go. Thought maybe you had quit because you lost the Jyudan title."

He hadn't been the only one to assume that. It was mildly insulting that so many people thought him so high on his horse that he would quit over a loss, either to Ogata or the internet player known as Sai. If anything, the only reason he hadn't retired earlier was because he hadn't believed that he'd still be able to play against good players outside of the pro circuit. His schedule had put undue stress on him and taken much of his time away from his friends and family as well - now he fully understood why it was Kuwabara was content to merely keep his hold on the Honinbou title instead of pursuing extra ones. His heart attack had started him thinking about it, and the refreshing match with Sai had then cemented his resolve. "I assure you that my reasons were nothing of the sort."

"Of course they weren't. You would never have managed one title, much less five, if that were the case. You keep a close eye on those students of yours, now, and watch out for those young upstarts."

"I'll talk to you again soon, Kuwabara."

The Honinbou grunted a farewell into the phone, and Kouyo hung up. It had been an odd sort of conversation, but it had been good to hear from one of his oldest and most respected colleagues. Still, the old pro had seemed more worried about the mysterious sho-dan's unexplained absence than his colleague's abrupt retirement.

Glancing at the clock mounted on the wall, Kouyo suddenly realised that he hadn't seen his son leave the house yet. Mildly pleased that he was actually around to do this sort of 'fatherly' thing again - though by all rights his son was well past needing him - he shuffled towards Akira's room, unsurprised to find him once again replaying that same game.

Shindou Hikaru seemed to keep popping up in the strangest of places. Was it really just all coincidence?

"Akira? Akira?"

No response. He tried a little louder. "Akira!"

Clearing his throat, he rapped his knuckles smartly against the wall. "Akira? You're going to be late."

His son blinked, as though he hadn't heard him the first three times he'd said it – and he probably hadn't. He shook his head ruefully. The rising player had been like ever since he'd come back from Ogata's a little over a week and a half ago. When he'd asked about it, all Akira had said was that he'd met Shindou there, and that they'd played a very strange game. At first, he'd been shocked, thinking that the mysterious child whom his son had chosen for his rival had actually managed to defeat Akira again, but upon further questioning he learned that wasn't the case. Why then was his son still so obsessively replaying that game alone in his room all day and night?

"Oh, you're right! Sorry father," Akira said, standing and running out of the room. He grabbed his wallet and house keys, and then ran to the foyer to slip on his shoes. "I'm leaving! Be sure to tell mother that I'll be back in time for dinner! Oh, and you're free to use that Go board – I'm done with it for now!"

"Good luck today," the retired Go Master called as his son hurried out of the house, hoping that he managed to compose himself before he reached the Institute. His son was getting too old for his lectures now, though, so he left it at that. He headed back inside to clean up the stones Akira had left behind – they weren't lacking go boards around the house, but this one was a favourite of both players and he wouldn't mind replaying a few of his own games on it.

He hesitated before clearing the board, though. This was the game that had his son so perplexed, after all. Even though Akira had refused to re-play the game when he asked, he couldn't entirely contain his curiosity.

The newly-retired Meijin frowned as he observed the strange pattern of stones that had his son so confused. At a quick glance, there didn't seem to be any discernible shape, and it was impossible to deduce what order the moves had been made in from it. Touya had won, by six and a half moku, which while mildly startling in itself given the difference in the two boys' experience, was surely not cause for this sort of obsession. Though his son had always acted strangely in all issues regarding Shindou Hikaru.

It was an odd game, he conceded, but he doubted that he'd be able to figure out anything more without seeing the order in which the stones had been played. He stood to retrieve a cloth from the other end of the room to wipe the board down when he was done sorting the stones, but found his hand frozen yet again when he turned around, seeing the board from the other side.

The Meijin's eyes widened as the shape suddenly took meaning before his eyes. Sitting there, surrounded by the white, the black stones spelt out a somewhat misshapen, but definitely unmistakable word. '_Help'_.


	17. Reaching Yose

Author's Note: This is a 'meanwhile' chapter, taking place at about the same time Touya Kouyo sees Akira's game. Everyone will hate me for doing it, but I swear it's the last.

Another point to address is that a lot of reviewers can't understand is why nobody has called the police yet. It's a fair question. I'm merely going off my own instincts on the matter – I have a lot of friends who tend to completely vanish for weeks at a time, and if I can't get in touch with them, I assume they're busy or something came up with their work or whatever – they always turn up again eventually with some unpredictable excuse as to the cause of their absence. I myself once skipped town suddenly for about ten days, and upon returning discovered that none of my seven flatmates were even aware of my absence – and those were people I was _living with_. So I guess three weeks without anyone getting worried enough to go so far as to call the police isn't quite so unbelievable for me, so that's why it wasn't an issue I was worried about incorporating that much. Clearly I will have to pay more attention to it in the future, as this is apparently Not Normal. Anyhow, that's my reasoning, not that it really changes anything. If I have to explain it, it's obviously not working out right. Hmm. Well, the house has been built so I must live in it.

It's a very short chapter, but since I'm probably not going to get a chance to update on the weekend as normal I'm going to try and get the next chapter out by Friday.

Warning: This chapter contains violence.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 16 – Reaching Yose

By Sinnatious

* * *

Hikaru blearily tried to focus on the game in front of him. Even if he wasn't playing himself, he always improved from watching Sai's games. All the same, he doubted that any of the games he had played that day – other rather, Sai had played, but as far as Ogata knew they were one and the same – had stuck at all. He didn't think he'd felt quite so terrible in his life. He'd passed the point of feeling hungry a while ago – after all, the last time Ogata had given him food, he'd wound up throwing most of it back up almost immediately – but his stomach felt hollow and twisted all the same. His entire body felt weak and chilled to the bone, even though the room itself was quite warm. His many bruises ached and the air against his wrists felt unnatural – when Ogata had untied his hands to play the previous afternoon, he'd been surprised to see the bloody blisters forming where he'd strained against his bonds. He supposed he'd grown so used to his body aching from sitting in one position for so long – not to count his collection of injuries – that one more discomfort had completely bypassed his senses. 

"_16-7."_

The stone was carefully placed. The sho-dan spent a minute trying to figure out who was winning, and concluded that Sai was leading by a comfortable margin. It was irritating how long it took him to even reach that conclusion. Calculations that he normally made without even registering making them crawled along at a pedestrian place.

The older pro placed his response. The blonde man's face was a picture of dedicated concentration, though there were signs of growing bags under his eyes, indicating a lack of sleep. The teen would have felt it fair – see how the Jyudan likes it after a while – if it weren't for that fact that it made the elder's temper shorter and more unpredictable.

"_5-4,"_ Sai quipped after a pause. Hikaru fumbled for a stone, holding it awkwardly in his fingers. He frowned at them – they couldn't seem to stop trembling, no matter how hard he concentrated on stilling them.

Ogata made an impatient sound across the board as he tapped the ash from his cigarette into the ashtray and took another drag. Hurriedly, the teen plonked the stone down.

"_Hikaru! No! That's the wrong spot!"_

"_Shit! Sorry!"_ In his dizziness, he'd placed the stone one space to the right of where it was supposed to be, turning a brilliant play into a suicidal move that would kill a large group of their stones in three hands. Even a beginner wouldn't have made such a stupid blunder!

Ogata's face twisted into an expression of fury. In one swift move, the go pro stood, grabbed the teen by the shoulder, yanked up his left pants leg, and pressed the burning end of his cigarette against his knee.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Hikaru yelled reflexively, and was promptly rewarded with a slap across the mouth. That shut him up, but he nearly bit his tongue in his effort to remain quiet as the elder pro ground in it deeper, hands automatically trying to push Ogata away.

"_Hikaru!"_ Sai exclaimed.

"Tell me – how am I supposed to get stronger if you make stupid mistakes?!" the elder pro yelled, still pressing the burning cigarette into his leg. The youth squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to stop the tears from leaking out of them. The searing pain was almost blinding! "You better not be thinking of not playing seriously again! You've already given me enough trouble, brat!"

"I'm not, I swear, I'm just tired and hungry and can't concentrate properly!" the teen begged, feeling as though his entire leg was on fire but his weak arms weren't even close to being up to the task of pushing away the Jyudan's hand.

"You've managed fine up until now! And now you've just wasted the two hours already spent on his game!" Disgusted and angry, the elder pro withdrew the cigarette and swept his hand violently across the board, scattering stones all over the floor. Hikaru jerked back, mind whirling, trying to find some way to placate his captor.

"I can't- I can't-"

"Shut up. I've had enough of your theatrics for today." He felt the Jyudan's hand grasp his upper arm in a bruising grip and drag him to his feet. Hikaru stumbled, unable to make his limbs work the way he wanted them to, tripping over his own two feet and falling to the ground. Sighing in annoyance, the elder pro grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him back to the room, the carpet prickling uncomfortably against his tender wrists and ankles until it was briefly replaced by air as he was thrown back onto the hard chair. He let out a hiss between his teeth as Ogata tied his hands back behind his back and secured his ankles a moment later with the power cords, squeezing his eyes shut and trembling when the Jyudan knocked the burned leg on his way out of the room, muttering curses under his breath as he fumbled for a new cigarette, hands shaking as he fiddled with the lighter.

Only once the elder pro had left the room and locked the door did the teen let the tears escape from his eyes.

Sai watched, fan held to pursed lips, as the youth sobbed quietly to himself, tears tracking down his face and dripping from his chin. The ghost dearly wished he could wipe them away, once again cursing his lack of corporeality.

"_Hikaru,"_ he whispered, after he'd heard the Jyudan leave the apartment some ten minutes later.

"_It hurts, Sai,"_ came the feeble reply.

"_I know, Hikaru,"_ the ghost soothed. _"I'm sorry. If there was some way, any way, I could help…."_

He could see the boy making a visible effort to stem his tears_. "You can't help it. You're a ghost."_ He paused, sniffling then shaking his head as though he were angry with himself. _"I'm so pathetic. Like this, I can't even wipe my own face clean. This must be how it feels for you, huh, Sai? Trapped with me, having no hands, not being able to touch anything…"_

Sadly, the go-obsessed spirit shook his head. _"No. While it is true that I may not be able to touch Go stones or influence the world around me, I am here of my own will. Well, I suppose some of it is God's will, but…. My one true grievance right now is that I am so powerless to help you."_

"_You're not powerless, Sai. Just sitting here, talking to me, is keeping me sane. That's all the help I can ask of you. Though…. I don't know how much that will matter anymore."_

"_What do you mean, Hikaru?"_

The teen didn't reply, just sitting there in silence for some time, tears slowly drying. Sai desperately wanted to cheer his host up, but was at loss of what to do.

Hikaru coughed weakly a few times, breaking the silence. The Heian-period ghost was at his side again in an instant, hovering about him in concern.

"_Hikaru?"_

"_My throat was just a little dry, sorry."_

"_Is it cold in this room?"_ Sai asked, growing concerned by the clammy look to the youth's skin, and not for the first time wishing he could sense if his companion had a fever or not.

"_A little, but don't worry about it."_

They fell into silence once more. It could have been only a few minutes, but it certainly felt like an hour later when Hikaru suddenly spoke again.

"_Hey Sai…. I'm sorry if this brings up painful memories for you or anything, but I wanted to ask…"_

"_Yes, Hikaru?"_

"_What did it feel like? You know…when you died?"_

Sai couldn't answer. His fan was habitually half-hiding his face, but it did nothing to hide the tears that now spilled from _his_ eyes.

"Sai?" Hikaru tiredly raised his head to look at the ghost. "Oh…. I'm sorry. You don't have to answer, I guess. Please don't cry."

Sai just shook his head wordlessly, tears still falling down his face. It wasn't that the memory caused him that much pain – he'd had a thousand years to dwell on it, after all. It was the sadness that his friend needed to ask.

"_I'm so sorry, Hikaru. I'm so very sorry."_

"Hey, no, you know, forget it. I guess I just wanted to know. Selfish, of me, huh?" The youth forced a weak laugh.

Sai just couldn't stop crying.


	18. Finding Life In Dead Stones

Author's Note: No updates for the next few days, since I'm off to Sydney. I have thus, in an act of mercy, avoided ending this chapter on a cliffhanger. Thanks as usual to everyone who has reviewed.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 17 – Finding Life In Dead Stones

By Sinnatious

* * *

The Meijin had reflected at length over the go board when he'd discovered the hidden message, carefully putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, as calmly as he would if it was just another game being discussed at his study session. 

It had now been a full twenty four hours since he'd stumbled upon the hidden message in the Go board – twenty four hours of trying to decide what to do about it. He'd refrained from telling his son about his observation, partly not wanting to admit that he'd examined a game that Akira had obviously been trying to keep private and partly to protect his son from his own uneasy suspicions. Instead, he'd been attempting to recreate what he _thought_ the order of the stones might have been, hoping that might shed some more light on the issue. It had proven an almost impossible task, much to his distress. The night before his sleep had been haunted by that message in the Go board, and more than once he found himself getting up in the early hours of morning to check that he hadn't simply imagined that strange shape. At least now he knew why Akira felt the game so unusual. It was rather surprising that his son hadn't noticed it yet, really.

In all fairness, the word _had_ been terribly misshapen, due to the necessity to carve out territory and keep white's threats at bay. Still, once noticed, the word still seemed unmistakeable, in the same way a child's scrawl was still perfectly readable to anyone who had the right context. To manipulate a game with that sort of finesse and detail, though, to the point where apparently neither Ogata nor Akira noticed what he was doing… All of them really had sorely underestimated Shindou Hikaru. If anything, it made the former Meijin all the more suspicious that the youth might actually be the legendary net player known as Sai….

That was why he was currently standing outside Ogata Jyudan's apartment building. Ogata had been dying to play Sai. Truthfully, most pros were, especially after the kifu of his net match had circulated. But Ogata was maybe just obsessed enough, just desperate enough to do something crazy to get the match he wanted. Shindou, _if_ he was Sai, had been remarkably clever in keeping his identity secret – though why he would want to was in itself a mystery - but Ogata was one of a small number of people in a position to put all of the clues together. It hadn't helped that the blonde-haired man had overheard part of his and Shindou's conversation in the hospital after the internet match. And there was little chance that the other pro would have let the matter slide like he had. That, coupled with the story his son had passed along of the Jyudan running into the 'missing' pro on the street and bringing him to his apartment, felt immensely suspicious. For one, the Jyudan wasn't the sort to let just anyone into his private abode, especially not disrespectful sho-dans. And if he really had experienced such a chance encounter, why hadn't anyone at the Go Institute had a similar run in with Shindou?

Touya Kouyo observed the apartment building before him somewhat warily. He knew that the newly-appointed Jyudan title holder had a match as well as a series of interviews that day, so was unlikely to return for at least a couple of hours. He had mulled over his son's strange game for some time, reluctant to leap to conclusions, but once the idea had lodged itself in his brain, he couldn't shake it off. Besides, this felt like the only way to appease his guilt. When word had first reached him of the sho-dan skipping his matches, he'd been concerned that it was related to his own retirement. After all, he'd never had a chance to properly explain himself to youth, Ogata having interrupted that somewhat delicate conversation.

Either way, it led to him standing outside of apartment complex of his ex-colleague, reluctant to enter but not willing to ignore what could be happening. After all, though he held a great deal of professional respect for the younger man, and indeed some small measure of affection left over from the days when he still considered the professional his student, he also always felt that there was something a little off about him even on the best of days. He disapproved of the man's excessive smoking and drinking, fast car and fast lifestyle, and even suspected at times that he had mistreated his many ex-girlfriends, but none of that had really been any of his business. All the same, he'd never felt entirely comfortable leaving Akira alone with him, and he had to admit that the man's obsessive drive for his game was often somewhat unsettling. That sort of obsession was common among all pros, of course, but Ogata seemed to take it to an unhealthy level at times. When coupled with his naturally ruthless nature… it wasn't a pleasant combination.

Which was perhaps why he was so worried for Shindou. Really, this was the sort of thing he ought to go to the police for, but he didn't want to risk besmirching an honest man's reputation unless he was completely sure of what was going on. And there was also Shindou himself to consider – the young pro seemed to harbour many secrets and mysteries, so it was always unwise to leap to any conclusions prematurely with the unpredictable youth.

Decision made, the former Meijin entered the complex, quietly making his way to the fifth floor. He'd visited the new Jyudan plenty of times before, after all, even on occasion going to feed his fish when the other pro was out of town and had forgotten to set up the automatic fish feeder, so it was with a casual confidence he approached the apartment door, reached under the mat for spare key, and entered. He didn't spare much thought for the notion that he was technically trespassing – if he was truly lucky, the blonde haired man would never even know he'd been here.

Stepping into the apartment and quietly shutting the door behind him, the retired Go pro spent a moment letting his eyes adjust to the dimness, preferring not to bother with turning on the lights. Quietly, he padded into the kitchen, then the living room, checking for anything that was out of place. On his way to the bathroom, he stopped, frowning at the door to the second bedroom. Why was it locked from the outside? Wasn't that typically a fire hazard? The paint on the door was a slightly different shade of colour to the rest, so he concluded it must have been a mistake in the original construction of the apartment.

Having come so far, one more intrusion would hardly make a difference. It had the sort of locking mechanism that opened automatically from the locked side, so the handle didn't resist him when he twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

The room was full of oddly shaped shadows, and smelt vaguely unpleasant, like a faint mix between copper, sweat, mothballs and mould. His hand found a light switch a moment later. When he flicked it on, the sight that greeted him nearly made him gasp.

Sitting there tied to a chair was a familiar-looking teenager, head hanging forward with his blonde fringe hiding his face.

"Shindou?" he asked, almost not believing the sight in front of him. The youth's head jerked up at his voice, and the elder was disturbed by the deep shadows under his eyes and the painful looking bruises on his left cheek and right temple. Perhaps even more disturbing was the blank dullness in the once bright and vibrant eyes.

To say Touya Kouyo was shocked would be an understatement. He'd been prepared for this eventuality, but when faced with it, it was worse than he feared. Shindou looked a wreck, a pale shadow the bright boy who had sat across from him in the sho-dan series, and then later visited him in hospital.

Even as that thought entered his head, though, a glimmer seemed to return to the boy's gaze. "Touya Meijin? What are you doing here?" The words were practically a whisper.

"I'm not Meijin anymore," he corrected automatically. After a pause, he added, "I saw your game with Akira."

The young pro let out a shuddering breath. "Thank God..." The teen seemed to pause for a minute, as though listening to something else he couldn't hear. When he spoke again, his voice was cracked, and a tad desperate. "Please, if you could..."

Starting involuntarily, the Meijin hurried over. "Oh, of course." This entire encounter still felt surreal, but the man carefully undid the knots that tied the boy's legs to the chair, then those that bound his hands, letting out a hiss at the sight of the raw wounds that had been worn into the wrists. Was Ogata really capable of this? This was cruel. Even worse, Shindou was practically still a child! He fervently hoped that this didn't have any negative impact on the young pro's blossoming career.

Questions swirled in his mind as he untied to the cords, and he tried to pick out the most important ones.

"Shindou... what happened? How long have you been here?"

"I don't know anymore... I've lost track of the days. A month?"

That long? Still, that matched up with how long the sho-dan had been missing matches.

"Perhaps we should get out of here." Having made his discovery, it wouldn't be wise to dally and be caught by Ogata – best to hurry and get the poor youth well clear of the place. Shindou nodded sharply, pushing himself to his feet and slowly making his way to the door. Kouyo had the distinct sensation that the youth desperately wanted to run, to leave the apartment behind him as fast as humanly possible, but his legs looked unwilling to co-operate.

"Do you need to go to hospital?" the ex-Meijin asked.

The youth shook his head tiredly. "I'll be okay. I'm just a bit stiff from not being able to move for so long."

The elder begged to differ, but he wasn't going to force the boy to go to hospital if he didn't want to. All the same, he didn't look like he'd make it very far on his own. One step at a time, then – if necessary, the boy could be taken to hospital or a doctor to be checked over later. "Are your parents home?"

The sho-dan gained that far-off look in his eyes again, almost as though he was having an argument with himself. Finally, he answered, "I don't know. They were overseas. They might be back now."

That at least explained how this had dragged on so long without the police getting involved. Still, hadn't the boy told anyone he was going to be on his own? Surely SOMEONE was supposed to be checking on him.

There wasn't much choice then. He was unwilling to return the child home until he was certain that there was someone there to make certain he didn't collapse - with the way the youth was swaying on his feet, it seemed a very real possibility. Mind made up, he announced, "We can go to my house, and you can try to call your parents there." Seeing the boy tense at those words, he carefully added, "If you're comfortable with that. Akira will be home later this afternoon, and he's been worried about you too."

Obviously his reminder that unlike Ogata, he didn't live alone, calmed the potential volcano of panic somewhat. After a prolonged moment, Hikaru nodded, though still didn't meet the elder pro's eyes.

"Come. The cab I took here is still waiting outside. Are you _sure_ you don't want to go to hospital?" Kouyo was almost considering forcing the issue – even though the teen was standing and walking somewhat unsteadily, the elder didn't know _how_. He looked like a light breeze would be enough to blow him over. Yet the boy's nerves were clearly shot, so he contented himself with just getting the child as far away as possible and asking questions in a more comfortable setting.

They left the room, the former Meijin walking carefully beside the teen, ready to catch him in case he fell. Shindou seemed to be dragging up a reserve of energy from somewhere, though, despite his ragged and unhealthy appearance, and walked towards the door unwaveringly. He hesitated only briefly at the entrance, Kouyo prompting him to put on his shoes – how had he not noticed them upon entering? – so that the sho-dan wasn't running around outside in bare feet. The teen didn't say a word as they closed the apartment door behind them, though his eyes were open and unblinking as they headed down the elevator and back into the lobby.

The boy actually winced when they made it into the sunlight. The Meijin thought the natural light made him look even worse, accentuating the harsh bruises on his face and the unhealthy paleness of his skin. It made it more real, somehow.

Hikaru, however, was unaware of the elder pro's quiet observation. He gasped as a cool breeze ghosted across his skin, relishing the warm embrace of sunlight. It was so bright he had to squint, unused to natural light after being trapped in that dim apartment for so long. It was as though his body had become hypersensitive. The sounds of the wind rustling the tree leaves, the distant rumble of traffic and the humming of the cab's motor a few metres away felt so sharp and loud after becoming so used to the quiet of Ogata's apartment that was only ever interrupted by the dull hum of a half-empty refrigerator and the bubble of the fish tank's air filter. It made it seem as though that past hellish month had been nothing more than a waking nightmare.

"_We're free, Hikaru,"_ Sai whispered excitedly by his ear. _"We made it out. You're going to be okay."_

Hikaru wasn't convinced. Any moment, surely, Ogata would come stalking out of nowhere and drag him back into that silent apartment.

"Shindou?" Touya Kouyo prodded. Who would have ever thought the former Meijin would be the one to come to his rescue?

Or was he too looking for Sai?

"The cab's waiting," he said patiently.

It would be fine. Touya would be there. He could trust Touya. Probably.

Hikaru climbed into the cab, ignoring the startled then questioning glance from the driver, watching the scenery slowly scroll by as the car gently pulled away, only vaguely aware of the former Meijin's imposing presence next to him. Not even once did he glance back at the apartment building. He never wanted to see it again.


	19. Playing The Game After Its Finished

Author's Note: I have returned, triumphant from my travels! The details are on my website for those who showed interest and asked questions. Thanks for your patience.

A lot of people are saying the Touya Meijin should just take Shindou straight to hospital, but have you ever tried taking an edgy person to hospital when they don't want to go? It's impossible. Even family members can't force someone who is lucid to be admitted except in exceptional situations. As for any police issues, I admit that it isn't something I've given a lot of thought about, nor have I done any research on (not having been at the forefront of my thoughts when writing – admittedly this has sort of been a make-it-up-as-you-go-along endeavour), so I'm going to have to beg forgiveness for not knowing (or following) proper procedures there. As I've said, I've built the house already so I can't really change course on those matters. Merely things I'll have to keep in mind for future writings. Anyhow, enough of that, hope you enjoy the chapter. It's a pretty short one, so expect the next some time on the weekend.

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**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 18 – Playing The Game After Its Finished

By Sinnatious

* * *

Touya Akira lingered only briefly at the Go Salon that afternoon, intent on heading home to do his homework, and perhaps also take another look at that damn perplexing game he'd had with Shindou. It was cloudy out, he noted, though the sky had been completely clear earlier in the afternoon. Even though it looked unlikely to rain, he walked briskly, not wanting to get caught in a sudden downpour without an umbrella. 

"I'm home!" he called automatically on entering. There was no response – the house was almost unnaturally quiet. Akira frowned. If he stretched his memory, he could recall his mother saying that she was going to be visiting a friend until late, but his father ought to be around. If anything, it was mildly surprising that he couldn't hear the murmured voices of some other go pros from the study room, as barely as day went by now without his father having some guest come over for a leisurely game. His mother always clucked disapprovingly, wondering out loud why her husband had bothered retiring if he was still going to play so frequently, but all of them knew that the former Meijin would be restless otherwise. Recovering from a minor heart attack or not, it would be hard to go from the sort of schedule he'd been handling previously to a completely idle lifestyle.

A quick glance around the foyer showed his father's sandals present, so that confirmed the man was home at least. After a moment, his eyes alighted upon a ragged pair of sneakers, momentarily confusing him. They were about his size, but Akira was almost certain that he didn't own a pair of shoes like that. He only had one pair of sneakers, and they still looked new thanks to how rarely he wore them. Had his father perhaps taken a new Insei in under his wing now that he had the time?

Curiosity now piqued, he stopped by the kitchen, absently noting his mother's message pinned to the fridge, informing him that dinner was already prepared within and to just heat it up when he and his father wanted to eat. Grabbing a quick drink of water and dropping his bag off into his room, he set out searching for his father. The room where they usually held the study sessions was empty, as was the garden. Venturing deeper into his house, a cursory glance into his parent's bedroom revealed that was vacant too, leaving only the guest bedroom to check.

He slid open the door, and found his hand frozen on the frame.

Akira stared, somewhat dumbfounded, at the scene in front of him. His soon to be rival was sitting there in the corner of the guest bedroom, knees hugged against his chest, wearing what looked suspiciously like a set of his clothes.

"Shindou?"

"Ah, Akira, you're home." His father entered the room from behind him, and calmly padded his way over to the other boy.

Unconsciously following, he began, "Father, what-"

He trailed off when he realised that no one was paying him any real attention, and settled for watching the strange encounter instead, trying to deduce what exactly was going on. He hadn't seen hide or hair of the other pro since that bizarre match in Ogata's apartment, then all of a sudden he turned up at his house out of the blue?

His father gently took Shindou's wrist, causing Akira to flinch at the sight of the red grazes and bruising there. What on earth had happened?

Calmly, the former Meijin started softly rubbing a pungent liquid over the abused wrists. "This will help prevent infection. Are you injured anywhere else?"

The sho-dan bit his lip, which as far as Akira was concerned, was an admission of guilt. "Go on, it's fine," his father coaxed the other boy patiently.

Averting his eyes, Shindou pulled his left pants leg up above his knee. A small but ugly and painful looking circular red burn sat just above his kneecap. Akira was barely able to suppress the gasp this time. His father had better self-control, a slight tightening of the edges of his mouth the only indication of any anger. Expression remaining neutral, Touya Kouyo inquired, "How did that one happen?"

It was first time Akira had heard the other boy speak since he'd arrived. He was shocked at how small and shaky Hikaru's normally boisterous voice sounded.

"He put his cigarette out on my leg."

"What?! A cigarette?!" Akira couldn't make any sense of the situation, and it frustrated him.

Ignoring him yet again, the former Meijin folded his arms pensively. "Are you sure that's the only other one? I still think you should go to a hospital."

Shaking his head furiously, Shindou replied, "The rest are just bruises, I swear!" His eyes slid around the room in a jerky and unsettling manner, as though he was having trouble focusing on anything for more than five seconds.

Akira could tell that his father was growing angry, and that alone unsettled him. His father was often stern, true, but he was always calm and in control of his emotions.

"Bruises, you say?"

Moving swiftly, before either of the two boys had a chance to react, the elder Touya grasped the hem of Shindou's shirt and pulled it upwards.

"No!" Hikaru was fast to pull the shirt back down, but both of them had chance enough to see the collection of large, dark bruises marring his torso, in addition to the showing ribs. Touya had never realised that his chosen rival was so very thin. But more the point – who on earth had DONE that to him? From what little glimpse he'd been able to catch, the bruises were all various shades of colour, indicating a time span of at least a number of days over the course of their infliction. Was it his parents? When Akira thought back, he'd never actually seen the other boy's parents, not at any of the tournaments, not at the Institute, anywhere, really. But wait… that girl, Akari, had said Shindou's parents were away on holiday or something. Bullies, maybe? What kind of bullies could leave someone is such a paranoid state, though? The other teen looked like he was about ready to bolt at the slightest opportunity, and there was a haze of confusion over his expression.

Touya Kouyo settled again, giving the battered youth some of his personal space back. "He really did a number on you. Even if you don't want to go to hospital, you should at least go to a doctor, to make sure that you don't have any broken ribs."

"It's fine, it'll heal by itself in a couple of days," Shindou murmured.

"Father, what's going on?! What happened to Shindou?" Akira demanded, growing tired of being ignored.

"Oh, Touya!" The sho-dan seemed to notice Akira for the very first time, even though he'd been standing there for at least ten minutes. He managed a weak smile, though it came off more as slightly crazed. "I should thank you for delivering my message."

"Message?"

"Yeah – the one I hid in that game of Go we played. Your father saw it, and came and rescued me. Unless I'm just dreaming," he continued in a low tone, brow furrowed, and turned to the elder Touya with that lost and confused look stealing over his face again. "I'm not dreaming am I?" He pinched the skin of his right arm a few times, as though fascinated with the movement of his hands and fingers.

The former Meijin sighed, and replied, "I assure you this is all very real."

"Father, what's-"

"I'm afraid now isn't the best time, Akira," his father interrupted gently but firmly. "But if you could please bring me the phone book and the cordless, I would very much appreciate it."

"Um, right." Akira hurried from the room, fetching the cordless phone from its cradle in his parent's bedroom and stopping by the phone in the hallway to extract the phone book from underneath it. Practically tripping over his own feet, he hurried back to his father, presenting the items to him awkwardly. Shindou was still huddled in the corner, biting the edge of his lip and eying the cordless phone anxiously.

"Thank you, Akira," his father replied. "Do you mind telling me your home number, Shindou? I would like to call to see if your parents are home."

Sai watched his host's eyes dart back and forth, and immediately understood the concern. Hikaru was no doubt recalling Ogata's fateful phone call to his house, and was likely fretting over what might happen if his parents_ still _weren't home.

_"It's okay Hikaru. You can trust this man. I know it,"_ the ghost soothed his friend with a sad smile.

"_But – even if they ARE home, what I am supposed to do then? How am I supposed to explain all of this to them without them thinking that I'm you? That I'm Sai?" _

"_You'll figure out something. You always_ _do."_

Out loud, the teen asked, "Then what is the phone book for?"

It was fortunate the Meijin was the patient type. He carefully replied, "To call for take-out if your parents aren't home. My wife has left dinner prepared for us, but I don't expect it will be enough for three."

"_See, it's fine. Just tell him your phone number, Hikaru,"_ Sai encouraged.

_"I don't know, Sai."_

"_Look, he couldn't keep you here even if he tried. Half the doors here are traditional shojis. There is absolutely nothing to stop you from making a run for it."_

"_Doesn't matter if I'm tied to a chair."_

"_There are no chairs, see? Besides, he already knows that your parents were away anyway. If they're not there, it won't change anything." _

_Hikaru contemplated that for a moment. Sai was expecting his friend to come back with another argument, but after a beat the teen was stuttering out his phone number, which the Meijin carefully dialled into the phone. _

It hurt the ghost worse than anything else to see the teen so broken. He was like a spooked rabbit, constantly on edge. The youth had held up remarkably well throughout the ordeal, but the last week had taken a heavy toll on him. The guilt gnawed at the spirit's consciousness - technically, this was entirely his fault; a direct result of his selfish desires to play Go. Because of him, Hikaru had suffered terribly.

He would never again complain when his host refused to let him play. The youth was naturally generous - whenever he felt it was safe to do so, he'd go to quite a bit of effort to let his disembodied companion play, even going so far as to sacrifice a good portion of his summer holidays to play on the internet when he could have just as easily been playing himself, or doing any other number of activities. He knew now, with a cold certainty, that Hikaru knew exactly what he was doing when he didn't let Sai play. The youth was more shrewd than what anyone, even himself, had given him credit for.

After a moment, the former Meijin pressed a button on the phone. "It went to the answering machine. It appears that they're either not back yet, or they're out. We'll try again later. In the meantime, Akira, what would you like for dinner?"

Sai tuned out the rest of the conversation, keeping half an eye on the other young Go player in the room who looked almost as confused as Hikaru himself. _"See? It's fine. Just relax, Hikaru. It's okay now. You're free. Your Go got us out. Not my Go, yours."_

"_Yeah… yeah." _It seemed as though the teen was trying to convince himself more than anyone else. _"We're out. We're outside."_ Hikaru laughed a little at that, a burbling giggle that didn't quite escape his throat. The other two occupants in the room glanced at him worriedly, but didn't say anything of it.

Sai shook his head. In Go, Hikaru had a tendency to maintain perfect composure during a game and then lose it afterwards. It appeared that trait extended somewhat to real life as well. _"Just rest,"_ he counselled. _"I'll keep watch for you."_

"_Thanks Sai. Sorry for all the trouble."_

_"No, Hikaru. It is I who should apologise."_

"_What?"_

"_Never mind. Just… rest. We'll talk later."_


	20. Death of a Rivalry

Author's Note: Sorry to disappoint people, but it's not going to be a Hikaru/Akira fic. I thought I'd just get the disappointment out of the way now by giving that away, so there is no mourning later.

Another short chapter, sorry, and possibly delays on the next one as it is looking to probably be quite long and life is doing that getting in the way thing again. Should still be able to get it out sometime Wednesday or Thursday, work being willing. Take one short holiday and the place crumbles down, I tell you! Yeesh!

Also fixed up a couple of minor formatting issues with the last chapter. Thanks for all those reviews! You guys rock. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

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**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 19 – Death of a Rivalry

By Sinnatious

* * *

Akira wasn't able to shake the surrealism of the situation, even as he lay out a place for Shindou at the kitchen table. His father had shooed him out of the room after placing an order for a delivery at a nearby restaurant to talk with the other boy privately, only to emerge several minutes later to announce that their guest had fallen asleep, and that they'd let him be until dinner. The rising go star thought that his chance for answers had finally come, but his father had disappeared into his bedroom almost immediately. That left the promising young pro fidgeting into an unnatural silent kitchen for half an hour with his thoughts in a whirl. 

The delivery arrived, and he knocked on the door tentatively to let him know. "The food's here."

His father appeared almost immediately. "Very well. I'll go wake Shindou. If you could prepare the table?"

"Already prepared."

The retired Meijin simply nodded and headed to the guest room. Akira dogged his footsteps, partly out of lack of anything else to do and partly in hopes he could satisfy more of his curiosity.

The sho-dan was curled on his side atop the guest futon, sleeping deeply. It was with obvious reluctance that his father cleared his throat and announced, "Shindou, dinner is prepared. Please wake up. You must eat."

When the other teen didn't even stir, his father repeated himself more loudly. "Shindou, wake up. It is time for dinner." When that still didn't work, he reached out and shook the boy's shoulder.

Even that was barely enough to rouse the teen, though as soon as those eyes had opened a crack, he sat straight up and scrambled backwards, eyes darting around wildly in disorientation. Akira quashed his urge to say something, choosing instead of mimic his father's patient silence. It seemed to work – after a moment, Shindou had sorted himself out somewhat and calmed down, scowling as he rubbed at his left wrist that he'd jarred in his hasty retreat. Akira found himself wincing sympathetically. The angry red wounds on his wrists and ankles stood out starkly against the go player's pale skin, and looked incredibly painful. Why hadn't they been bandaged?

"Right... dinner. Okay," Shindou murmured, still looking somewhat dazed, though at least more alert of his surroundings now. They waited as he stood up and shuffled over to them painfully slowly, then headed towards the kitchen. Touya took up the rear while his father led the way, offering Shindou a polite smile, not really knowing what to say without asking too many intrusive questions. It seemed to reassure the other pro, at least, who relaxed his hunched shoulders slightly as they made their way down the hallway. It didn't escape Akira's notice that his rival kept a hand on the wall to keep his balance, though.

"Beef stir fry is fine with you, Shindou?" his father asked as he served out their rice. The sho-dan nodded mutely in response as he took a seat.

They started eating in tense silence. Akira started to say, "Shindou, what-" but was interrupted before he could complete his sentence.

"Not at the dinner table, Akira."

He withdrew, even though he was bursting to ask questions, but another stern glance from his father made him hold his tongue. Eventually, the former Meijin asked, "So, Akira, how was school today?"

It was such a terribly ordinary question in those circumstances that the rising go star was temporarily taken aback. With everything that was going on, his father was asking him about _that_? A slight shift of his father's eyes brought him understanding. Ah. He was just trying to make Shindou comfortable, and seemed to intend on sticking to safe topics for the time being. "Um... oh, fine." Honestly, with everything that had happened since arriving home, school felt like a distant memory already.

"No trouble keeping up? Your schedule at the Institute has been quite hectic lately."

"The teachers are very understanding. Still, I have been missing a lot of school. I'm worried about my science grades in particular, since I don't get to do as much lab practice as the other students."

"Nevertheless, I should say I'm quite pleased at how well you've managed to balance those two aspects of your life. Perhaps I do not tell you often enough."

Akira felt briefly warm at the words - his father had high standards, and any sort of encouragement or compliment from him was rare. Especially in regards to his studies - it was more often his mother that asked after that, with his father instead enquiring about his Go. "Thank you, father. I'll do my best not to let you down."

"What about you, Shindou?"

"Hm?" the sho-dan looked up from his plate. He'd been eating extremely slowly - Akira himself was almost finished, but the other boy wasn't even a quarter of the way through his meal. "Oh, no, my grades have always been terrible. The teachers can't tell the difference."

That was mildly surprising. True, Shindou didn't seem the studious type, but Go pros and Insei as a rule almost always had above average intelligence and excelled at schoolwork. Indeed, many of the talents required to play Go at the highest level were also applicable to school work - logical thinking, time management, good memory and concentration were par for the course. Even calculating territory required a bit of skill with numbers. On the other hand, Akira had heard plenty of tales of various pros who had done poorly in school mostly due to boredom - the work was too easy, so they didn't concentrate or bother learning the rote or formulas that were tested. Was Shindou one of those types?

"What about high school? Akira's still deciding whether to continue or not."

The sho-dan's face had taken on a slightly pained expression, and even as he replied, he seemed distracted. "Well, I wasn't really planning on it to begin with... but it can't help that I've just missed a whole month, either... Probably couldn't go even if I wanted to now... Akari's going to be really mad..."

"Oh, Akari - that's the red-headed girl who goes to school with you?" Akira interrupted.

Shindou didn't respond. He was staring intensely at the table all of a sudden, and had set his chopsticks down next to his still mostly-full plate.

"Shindou?" he prodded.

"Where is your bathroom?" he asked in a small voice. "I think I'm about to be sick."

The former Meijin was quick to leap into action. "Come with me!"

Shindou half-ran, half-stumbled after his father; Akira hurrying after them. They barely made it to the bathroom, where the sho-dan promptly started emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet. It was a nauseating sound, so much so that Akira found himself having to retreat lest his own stomach get upset. After a good ten minutes, his father and the ashen-faced teen emerged from the bathroom.

The former Meijin was shaking his head ruefully. "You really should go to hospital. Or at least allow me to call a doctor."

"It's nothing. I'll be okay," Shindou protested weakly. Akira wanted to shake him at the words – CLEARLY the youth was anything but okay. "I just ate too much." That tiny serving was too much?

"That was too…. When did you last eat?" His father's voice was instantly suspicious.

Shindou just closed his eyes and turned his head away. Akira was shocked to hear his normally composed father swear under his breath a moment later.

"I didn't think… I'll make some miso soup instead. We'll ease you back onto solid food. Though if you throw that up as well I will be calling a doctor whether you agree to it or not."

"Father," Touya began as the elder helped their guest back to the bedroom, "Might I talk to you later?"

The former Meijin turned, and the young go pro was startled by just how weary his father appeared – much like how he looked around the time of any of his title matches. It was a stark contrast to how relaxed and youthful the man had been since his retirement. "I know you have a lot of questions Akira, but might it be able to wait until tomorrow?"

Who could place a burden on someone who already looked so troubled? There was obviously more to his father's worry than mere concern for Shindou, which only sharpened his curiosity, but there was nothing more that could be done. "I… of course, father. Please don't overwork yourself. If there's anything I can do to help…"

"Thank you, Akira. I will let you know if there is."

With that soft dismissal, the rising go star left and retreated to his room. Only a few minutes were spent valiantly attempting to concentrate on his homework, before eventually he gave up and decided it a lost cause.

Casting his eyes about the room, his attention eventually landed on the Go board. Unbidden, his mind sprung to Shindou's cryptic comment earlier that day – thanking him for delivering his message. At the prompt, the baffling game suddenly reappeared in his mind – not in the strange order of moves or the complex formations, but as a simple pattern – the finished kifu.

"Help," he breathed. How had he missed that? He'd spent so much time looking for the tiny mistakes, the hidden messages on the Go board that he'd completely ignored the overall picture.

Possessed by a sudden drive, he cleared the board, sat down in front of it and replayed the game one more time, now that its purpose had finally revealed itself to him. Just as his gut feeling had predicted, he'd been completely outsmarted, led around by the nose for the entire game so that the other pro could spell out his desperate message. It had seemed odd that it felt as though Shindou had been controlling the game, yet didn't seem to be gaining territory, and this explained it. Against an amateur, even a good one, this wasn't that hard to do… but against a pro? Even against a weak pro, this would be incredibly difficult, if not nigh impossible.

Wait…. Shindou had been in Ogata's apartment in that match. Did that mean…. Had it been OGATA who had done all that to him? Was Ogata Jyudan, the respected go pro who'd been attending his father's study sessions for almost as long as he could remember, the cause of their guest's poor state?

It seemed ludicrous. He couldn't picture it. But the story about Ogata running into the sho-dan in the street had seemed slightly odd, given that no one else had come across the missing teen. And Shindou had seemed very nervous and tense the entire time. He felt sick as he recalled Shindou's desperate words when he'd appeared behind Ogata, crying kidnapping… at the time he'd just chalked it up to the other youth being dramatic, but had that been the truth? Then there was the message to consider, too…. As unfathomable as the idea was, Akira could think of no other more reasonable explanation. And he'd missed it! He'd completely missed that message hidden amongst the Go stones!

No… that wasn't right. Shindou had always intended him to miss it. Eyes darting across the board, he attempted to dissect the game from memory once more. On top of the difficult task of spelling out that word while maintaining a decent balance of territory to keep the game going long enough to complete the message, his opponent had deliberately avoided spending too much time on any one part of the shape, flitting about the board as randomly as possible to distract him from noticing the pattern he was making. But why? …Ogata was watching. Of course. He hadn't wanted the Jyudan to notice, and had arranged things so as to distract anyone watching the game into being stuck on the smaller shapes so as not to notice the whole. It wouldn't work on a weak player, but a go pro would be constantly trying to disassemble to game into familiar formations and linking those together to make sense of it instead, as was habit. And Shindou's crazy play had made that almost impossible. The meaning had been _designed_ not to be seen by anyone who had watched the game get played. That was perhaps even more amazing than the feat of protecting both his message and his territory at the same time.

More importantly, his rival had done this under such strenuous conditions. If his few deductions were true, Shindou had played that game in poor health and under extreme duress, with Ogata looming over him the entire time.

The realisation passed over Akira like a river of cold water. Just like that, without any fanfare whatsoever, Shindou Hikaru had surpassed him.


	21. Paranoia

Author's Note: Okay, so this chapter was just totally an excuse to include Kurata. I admit it. There's no real point. I just love Kurata.

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**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 20 – Paranoia

By Sinnatious

* * *

Touya Kouyo woke early that morning after a troubled sleep. Fortunately, he'd always been an early riser, so his wife did not stir when he quietly dressed and left the room. A quick glance in the other bedrooms of the house revealed that both his son and their guest were still sleeping. 

The retired go player headed into the room where they held their study sessions, opening the shoji that led to the garden and settling himself on the porch with a hastily prepared cup of green tea. It was cold outside, so early in the morning, but ever since his retirement the former Meijin found himself enjoying the peace and quiet of watching the sunrise from the comfort of his own home. The slightest of smiles tugged at the edges of his lips. Already he was proving to be more of an old man than Kuwabara.

After some thirty minutes, he headed back inside to the kitchen, where the clatter of plates and hiss of running water confirmed that his wife was already up and making breakfast. "I was wondering how long you were going to be out there," she greeted him with a soft smile before turning back to the rice.

"You're certainly going all out on breakfast today," he observed. The nice plates had been set out on the counter for serving. They rarely saw the breakfast table.

"Of course. We have a guest," she announced primly. When she'd returned the night before, she had been dismayed to discover that she'd been unable to perform the role of hostess to one of Akira's friends – especially since their son simply didn't ever bring friends home, a fact that worried her incessantly.

"True, but these are not exactly usual circumstances." After a pause, he added, "And I very much doubt Shindou will be awake for hours."

"I can keep the food warm," she argued.

"That reminds me... best only give him some something easy to digest for now. I don't think he'll be able to keep any solids down for another day or two." Out of reflex, Kouyo reached over for the morning papers.

"That's no trouble at all. Though I wish we'd been able to be introduced to Akira's friend under better circumstances."

Kouyo didn't bother correcting her on Shindou's exact relationship with their son. Rivals, colleagues, acquaintances... they would all be the same to her. "Indeed, it is unfortunate that these circumstances have occurred at all."

"When are you going to go to the police?" she urged.

Sighing, the retiree set the papers aside again without even having opened them. "As I am not the boy's guardian, I am not exactly certain how best to proceed on the matter. He didn't wish to press charges yesterday, but I'm going to try and convince him today – he might be a little more reasonable after some sleep. As it is, I'm still not entirely sure of the full extent of what Ogata may have done to him, otherwise I'd at least make a report."

"Are you sure it's safe?" she asked worriedly, washing her hands over the sink. "If Ogata..."

"He has no reason to look for Shindou here, if he is indeed looking at all," Kouyo assured her. Privately, he worried a little for the man – Ogata had been his student for a long time, after all, and then more recently they had become friendly rivals. He was deeply disturbed by the whole affair, and couldn't predict what the Jyudan would do. Go was the man's entire existence, especially since he didn't have a family – he didn't doubt that the man was probably at the Institute as normal today, playing Go. The thought unsettled him that the man was probably facing another high dan that had no clue what was going on.

Their son chose that moment to wander into the kitchen, dressed in Kaiou's uniform and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Good morning Akira," his wife greeted, already in the middle of serving the food onto plates for them.

"Good morning."

"School again today?" Kouyo asked.

"Ah... yes." Akira was clearly distracted. After a moment he asked, "Is Shindou..."

"Likely still sleeping. If he doesn't wake up soon, we'll have to rouse him to make certain he eats."

"Oh. Father, could you explain... I mean, did Ogata really..."

It seemed that his son had already managed to put a few of the pieces together. "I myself am not aware of that much more than you. All I am sure of is that Ogata has been holding Shindou against his will for a period of time, and is responsible for those injuries you witnessed yesterday."

"I see."

"It is probably best if you keep this matter to yourself for now. As I was just explaining to your mother, we are yet to get the full story from Shindou, and the police still haven't been notified."

To his surprise the teen just nodded mutely, focusing on eating his breakfast with a faraway look in his eyes. Odd. Normally matters regarding Shindou Hikaru tended to get his son into quite a huff - for him to just stop asking questions and back off like that seemed very strange indeed, especially considering the fact that Akira had been bursting for information the day before. Then again, perhaps he too was shocked by the fact that someone he knew and trusted was capable of such a thing. They'd have to talk later.

The boy at the centre of all the drama, however, was currently in a deep sleep. It wasn't until some two or three hours later that voices started to creep in at the edge of his consciousness, slowly drawing him from the comfortable darkness. It was not a welcome intrusion.

All Hikaru could discern was the faint mumble of people talking. It reminded him a little of the indecipherable conversations his parents would hold downstairs when his father came home late, muffled beyond recognition by the echo of the hallway and the closed bedroom door. Slowly, but surely, more awareness crept into his senses. His limbs felt like lead weights, and there was unfamiliar sensation of soft fabric tickling at his cheek.

He didn't want to wake up. The comforting embrace of completely dreamless sleep was one he hadn't felt in so long. Unfortunately, there were other factors prompting him to awake. For one, the position he was lying in was not exactly favourable to some of his more tender bruises, and the need to visit the toilet was becoming pressing enough for him to attempt to decipher what the voices hovering at the edge of his perception were talking about.

A moment of concentration was all it took to determine that the two different voices weren't actually talking to each other. One was especially familiar. Sai. The other he couldn't pinpoint just yet.

"_Come on, Hikaru, you've been sleeping for a very long time. I know you're tired, but you must wake up. Touya Meijin is here. Are you listening, Hikaru?"_

Ah, Touya Meijin. Of course; that was the other voice.

"Shindou. Shindou, it's already 10 in the morning. I am afraid I cannot let you sleep any longer. We have much to talk about, and it is important that you eat."

Now he really was trying to wake up, but gravity felt especially heavy today.

"_Hikaaaaaaaruuuuu."_

Wearily, the sho-dan finally managed to crack open an eyelid, wincing at the unexpected brightness. He groaned as he rolled over. A part of him had been hoping – like he had hoped so many times before – that the whole affair with Ogata had been nothing more than a terrible nightmare and that he was waking up at home. The soft pillow under his head had almost convinced him for a moment, but there was no mistaking a futon for his usual bed, and the sight of Touya Kouyo's ever-serious visage across from him firmly drove the point home that this was, once again, reality.

"_Hikaru, don't just go back to sleep!"_

Ha, reality? Who was he kidding? A large part of him was having trouble believing that THIS wasn't a dream. He'd woken up disappointed from his fitful naps so many times at Ogata's after dreaming that he'd been rescued or that he was at home that it was hard to believe this was not another one of those fanciful constructions of his subconscious. If it really was, he didn't want to concentrate too hard on it, lest it slip away. Frankly, with the way things were with the Jyudan, he'd sooner not wake up again.

"_Hikaru! No! I keep telling you, this is real! Would I lie to you?"_

Though it was true, with the ways things were going with the Jyudan, that not waking up again was a very real possibility.

"_Listen to me, Hikaru! You're safe now!"_

He must have been projecting with thoughts without realising. _"You say that in all of my dreams." _

Sai didn't have a response for that.

"Shindou?"

Touya Meijin again. If it was just a hallucination, it was better to just go along with it anyway. Slowly, the sho-dan pulled himself into a sitting position and rubbed at his eyes.

"Ah, you're awake. Akira agreed to lend you another change of clothes. It's fortunate that the two of you are the same size."

Hikaru just blinked owlishly at the elder as he handed him the folded garments.

"My wife is just finishing running the bath. Why don't you go clean up and get changed, then come and eat breakfast. We'll talk afterwards."

When the man seemed to waiting for a response, the teen nodded and then added, "Thank you," in a small voice as an afterthought. The Meijin – _former_ Meijin, Hikaru corrected himself – just patted his shoulder and left the room. It was an odd sort of gesture from such an uptight man. Then again, it wasn't so hard to believe – he was used to seeing Touya the professional Go Master. No one could act that stern and reserved all the time – the man was a father and a teacher also, after all. It was still odd to see another side to such a prominent individual.

The bathroom was empty when he arrived, and Hikaru gratefully stripped down, rinsed himself off, washed his hair, and sunk into the bath, stiff muscles practically melting in the hot water. He was inclined to believe that he really _was_ awake now, given that there couldn't be any way his imagination could be so detailed as to replicate this heavenly sensation.

"_Hey Sai… I'm not dead, right?"_

"_No, Hikaru, you're not dead."_ The ghost laughed at his question, but his eyes were sad. The sho-dan decided that he hated the expression.

"_I guess that makes sense. It'd be pretty weird if I died and Touya-Meijin-" _It was going to take ages before he could remember to call the man anything else, it seemed. _"-was there. And you're still a ghost, too."_

"_That's right, Hikaru."_

It would have been easy to rest in that bath forever, but the teen was acutely aware that he was a guest in this house, so he dragged his tired body out, dried off, and got dressed, wincing when he caught sight of his wrists and black and blue torso. He'd already known that it had to look bad, but after getting a proper look himself it was no wonder the retired Meijin kept trying to convince him to go to hospital or a doctor.

Cautiously, he opened the bathroom door and peered into the hallway. No one was in sight, but he could hear low voices coming from the kitchen. He was briefly tempted to make a break a for it, but he still felt weak, even if a proper night's sleep had been a big help towards restoring his health.

"_I can trust Touya-Meijin. I can trust him." _Hikaru repeated to himself.

"_You can, Hikaru. It will be fine. And he said his wife was here too, didn't he? You'll be alright,"_ Sai assured him.

"_Yeah. Well, nothing to do but to find out."_ Besides, even if he did make a run for it, he didn't know where Touya lived and he probably wouldn't even make it to the end of the block without collapsing. The Meijin was probably right to insist on a doctor, but Hikaru really wanted to try and get past this whole issue with as few people knowing as possible. That felt like the only way any normalcy could ever resume in his life – and when you had a thousand-year old ghost following you around, normalcy became a lot more important.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the kitchen. Neither occupant noticed him at first, until the Meijin caught sight of him out the corner of his eye and turned to greet him. The unfamiliar woman, who had to be Touya's mother – come to think of it, he might have seen her at the hospital when he'd visited that time - whirled around almost immediately.

"Oh, you must be Shindou! It's a pleasure to meet you!" They'd met before, but he was hardly going to point it out – especially since he was so bad with names and faces himself.

"This is my wife," the go player introduced needlessly.

"You poor thing," she gasped, hurrying to his side. Hikaru had barely blinked before realising that she had somehow manoeuvred him into a chair. The woman spoke softly and had a demure demeanour, but there was a sort of… efficiency about her. It was very business-like, and the teen suddenly had no doubt that his rival's tidy appearance and purported perfect manners were largely due to this woman in front of him more so than a strict father. "Please, sit, I'll just reheat your food for you. Kouyo, he looks so weak! He should be in hospital!"

"I did ask, but Shindou was not terribly keen on that idea."

"Um, right," the sho-dan interjected hastily, not wanting his rescuer to get into trouble for following his wishes. "Really… I'm just a bit tired is all. There's no need for a hospital or a doctor. I'll be okay… Thank you for your concern." He still couldn't entirely shake off the surrealism of the situation, barely remembering to mind his manners.

"Here, I've made oatmeal. Kouyo said you were having trouble with solid food, so I hope this is easy to digest. If there's anything at all you need, just ask."

"Thank you," he muttered softly as the food was placed in front of him, and started eating slowly. Strangely, despite the fact that only a couple of days ago his raging hunger overrode almost every other sensation, he was having difficulty finding his appetite now.

The woman chattered on as she bustled about the kitchen, asking the typical sorts of questions mothers asked of their children's friends – school, hobbies, history and whatnot. In between slow mouthfuls, the sho-dan did his best to answer her as politely as he could, but his mind kept wandering and it was hard to focus on her voice or think up appropriate answers. His answers were always shorter than what was probably polite, and more than once he found himself forgetting to respond altogether as innocent questions about his friends and school sent him spiralling along other frantic avenues of thought. What was he going to say to his friends? To his teachers? How was he going to make up for all the work that'd he'd missed? How-

"Shindou, you seem to have finished your oatmeal. Would you mind coming with me into the study room to have a talk?" the Meijin said softly, interrupting his thoughts.

The bowl was only maybe half finished, but the teen realised that he'd put down his spoon without even noticing. He was full anyway. "Okay."

Touya Kouyo watched with no small measure of concern as the boy practically floated behind him into the study room. All throughout breakfast he seemed to slide in and out of lucidity. It was oddly disturbing, but rumour had it the sho-dan frequently spaced out as it was, and the boy was clearly still exhausted, even after sleeping a good fourteen hours the night before.

The room was where they normally held their study sessions. There was a goban sitting in the centre, surrounded by several cushions. "Please, take a seat wherever," he offered, then paused when he realised that Shindou hadn't followed him into the room.

Standing at the door, the boy had gone still, trembling as he stared at the goban, eyes flitting between it and him in an almost accusatory fashion. "Is anything wrong?" he asked, moving to set the go board aside – they wouldn't need it for their conversation.

The sho-dan seemed to relax a little after a moment and followed him into the room, though his posture was suddenly wary. He sank to his knees at a spot near the wall in the traditional seiza position, wincing as he did no – likely his raw ankles rubbing against the tatami mat.

"No need for formalities. Make yourself comfortable," the Meijin counselled, himself crossing his legs as he sat. After a moment, the sho-dan mimicked the pose, though his shoulders stayed stiff.

The retired go pro took a moment to try and contemplate how best to start his line of questioning. In the end, there wasn't any subtle way to bring the matter up, so there was nothing to do but get straight to the point. "Shindou, you need to tell me what happened. This needs to be reported to the police."

Clearly the boy wasn't surprised that the question had come up again, but was obviously unhappy about it. "Is…. Is it really necessary to go to the police?" There was a forced lightness to his voice, the sort of strain that was normally present when someone was trying to sound cheerful even while their eyes filled with tears.

"Shindou…"

"I'm okay now… right? Why does it even matter?" The boy was quickly becoming almost frantic.

"Shindou," the former Meijin interrupted, "Why don't you just tell me what happened first."

The child had starting rubbing at his raw wrists nervously, and the elder had to restrain the urge to wince at the sight. He'd tried to bandage them the day before, but almost as soon as he started wrapping the fabric around the abused wrists the teen had started to panic, yanking his arms away. Even though the sho-dan had been embarrassed by his reflexive actions, his hands were trembling when he held them out again, and after another two false starts, Kouyo had aborted further attempts. "He tied you up. Clearly you were being held against your will."

The youth didn't say anything, biting his lower lip.

"And he obviously hit you as well."

No response.

"I am also inclined now to think that he didn't feed you either. This much I can tell. What I am most need to know is how these things came to happen, and why."

Shindou just shook his head, eyes closed. "I can't…. I can't…."

"Did he do anything else?" Truthfully, Kouyo didn't even want to imagine what else his colleague could have done.

"No. Not really." The boy was looking off to the side again with that faraway look on his face.

Kouyo sighed to himself. It seemed like extracting any details was going to be harder than he first imagined. "Shindou, please…"

"I… it's…. it's hard to explain."

"No doubt. But you should at least make an effort."

"I AM!" the teen burst out, then immediately seemed to withdraw back into on himself. "Sorry, it's just…. It's hard… to talk about… I'm not really comfortable…" his voice died off, but the youth continued to mutter under his breath.

"You're not comfortable? Is there anything I can do that would help? Would you feel more comfortable talking to someone else, perhaps?"

Shindou didn't respond. He didn't seem to be paying attention anymore.

After a good ten minutes of silence, the Meijin gave up and retrieved his Go board, planning on replaying a few games until the teen regained his bearings and hoping that he might at least be able to prompt the boy to replay that match with the hidden message. Unexpectedly, almost as soon as he set the goban in front of him, the sho-dan had gone alert, tensing up like a deer about to flee. Strange.

Driven by the reaction, the former Meijin started laying down stones, replaying the last game he'd played as a professional – his final Jyudan title match against Ogata. Shindou relaxed almost as soon as he started laying stones, eyes roving over the board in the manner typical of a curious pro, constantly analysing every move, save for the odd occasion where his eyes would flit off the side and linger on nothing strangely.

The Go board had elicited a strong reaction, but given how quickly the sho-dan had calmed, he didn't know what to make of it. It was no doubt inevitable that it likely had associations the whole matter, of course – Go was the one thing the captor and captive had in common – but what exactly those associations were had yet to be revealed.

Kouyo was startled from his musing by the sound of knocking on the front door. He relaxed as he heard the patter of his wife's feet going to answer it, and turned to look at his guest. To his surprise, while he had been wrapped up in his thoughts, Shindou had slumped against the wall and fallen asleep again. His blonde fringe hung over his eyes like a curtain, and even in rest the boy looked troubled, so he didn't make any moves to wake him up. The teen was still exhausted, after all. He supposed he could wait a little longer for his answers.

"Dearest, you have a visitor," his wife announced, opening the door to the study room. The former Meijin was surprised to see a familiar bulky figure entering behind her.

"Ah, Kurata! I had completely forgotten that you were coming today." No surprise that the matter had slipped his mind, given the events of the day before.

His wife glanced at Shindou and gave him a worried look, but he just shook his head quietly. Frowning, she let them be.

"Eh... isn't that Shindou Hikaru?" the portly pro asked curiously as he headed to the circle of cushions in the centre of the room where the retiree currently sat.

"...It is."

"What a surprise to see him here! He doesn't look too well, does he? I guess he was missing his matches for a good reason. What happened to him?"

The Meijin sighed, mentally debating whether or not to tell. In the end, though, he figured that he could trust Kurata to keep a secret and exercise sensitivity where it was due. The portly young man was one of the few genuinely nice go pros he knew.

There was no diplomatic way to word his answer, though. "I believe that Ogata Jyudan kidnapped him, and confined him to his apartment for a month."

"He what?! A month?! ….Goodness, you'd think the police would have been involved." Kurata's eyes had momentarily bugged out before he regained his composure.

"The boy's parents are overseas - most people just assumed he was skipping his matches for some other reason, myself included. As it is, the police have yet to be notified."

"Oh? Then how come he is here?"

The Meijin was finding himself actually grateful to have someone as level-headed as Kurata turn up to discuss this with. It wasn't an issue he felt that he could easily discuss with his son or wife, and the opinion of a fellow colleague at this point in time was immensely welcome. "Akira had dropped by Ogata's apartment to return something he'd left behind at a study session, and had a game against Shindou there." He began placing the stones on the goban, recreating the pattern as best he could guess. "With Ogata present, it seems Shindou was unable to ask for help directly, so he did with his Go. This is the game they played. I am uncertain of the order of the stones, however."

Kurata watched, frowning, before realisation dawned on his face as Touya Kouyo laid down the last stone. "That's quite ingenious, and difficult to pull off. There really are some scary guys beneath me." What was really amazing was how easily Kurata seemed to take this shocking news in stride.

"Indeed. All the same, Akira managed to completely miss it. But the strangeness of the game baffled him so much he replayed it over and over again, trying to make sense of Shindou's moves. I saw it, became suspicious, and went to Ogata's apartment when he wasn't home. I found Shindou tied to a chair."

"How barbaric! Is that what those cuts on his wrists are from?" The 6-dan's voice became hushed.

"I would wager so. It must have been for some time, too. Shindou wouldn't even allow me to bandage them. It's a just a theory, but he's probably developed a phobia about having anything tied around his wrists."

"That makes sense. I wonder what you'd call that."

"I don't believe that's even the worst of it. He's let me treat some of his injuries, but he's been reluctant to tell the full story."

"So, you don't know why Ogata did something like that?" Kurata looked perplexed.

The ex-Meijin folded his arms, turning his head to look at the sleeping teen. He had his suspicions, of course, but he also sensed that it was something the youth didn't want to get out. He settled for silence, which he knew Kurata would take as a confirmation.

"I see... so, what are you going to do? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"All I'll ask is your discretion at this stage, though thank you for the offer. He'll stay here until his family returns, I think, and I'm planning to take him to the police station to make a report later today. Unfortunately, as you have surmised, his health at the moment is quite poor, which is why I'm reluctant to take him straight away. He still seems to be a little spooked."

"Hm, yes, you certainly don't want to stress him out too much if he's that bad. Oh, what about the Go Institute?"

"I've called them and explained the situation as best I could without really telling them anything. All they know is that Shindou was indisposed for a period of time and unable to notify them, and asked them to delay all of his matches for the next two weeks."

"I'm rather amazed they kept scheduling matches for him even though he wasn't attending, though. Seemed a bit odd." Kurata tapped his closed fan on his chin, rolling his eyes skyward in thought.

"I dare say they would normally have continued to do so if I hadn't asked them directly. Even then, they seemed reluctant without the full story. They caved eventually, though."

"Well, even if you are retired now, you held five titles. If anyone should be able to cut through the bureaucracy, it would be you. Still, Ogata Jyudan - who would have thought he was capable of such a thing? That's about the only thing that could cause a bigger wave in the Go World than your retirement."

"Hmmm. That is probably part of the problem. I doubt Shindou is going to want that sort of attention."

"You think that might be why he's so reluctant to talk about it?"

"Maybe. Let's not forget that it was probably quite a traumatic experience."

"I hope it doesn't affect his Go. He seemed to honestly enjoy it, and from what I've been hearing, he really has the potential to go all the way to the top," Kurata mused, opening and closing his fan contemplatively.

"That, we'll have to see. Will he be able to count on your support?"

"Absolutely! I've only really properly met him once, right after he put a mean-spirited pro and crooked retailer in their place at an event."

"You'll have to tell me that story sometime," the retired elder said with a faint smile. Kurata, in addition to being one of the more talented of the up-and-coming pros, was quite possibly one of the most pleasant. He was already coming to look forward to the man's semi-regular visits. It was something of shame that he hadn't remained a pro long enough to work with the talented individual more often in an official capacity.

"Of course. Though I can't believe he didn't want my autograph."

They chatted for a while longer, mostly discussing the implications of the whole affair and wondering how it could be kept out of Go Weekly. After a while, the conversation turned to more mundane matters as they both tried to lighten the heavy mood. Soon, it was mid-afternoon and Kouyo had to regretfully bid his former colleague farewell, apologising for not being able to have the planned match. Kurata was very understanding, and left with a promise of discretion.

Sighing, Kouyo sat back in the study room, and stared at the still sleeping teen slumped against the wall. The boy would get a sore neck, sleeping like that. Come to think of it, his own shoulders were feeling stiff too.

He was getting much too old for this.


	22. Unexpected Opponent

Author's Note: About three chapters left after this I think. Beware of cliffhangers! Also, thanks for all the reviews.

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**Caught In a Ladder**

Chapter 21 – Unexpected Opponent

By Sinnatious

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"… _If you're looking for my folks, they're overseas at the moment, and they won't be back for a month, so you'll have to call back then."_

Touya Kouyo quietly placed the receiver back onto its cradle and headed into the study room. It was the third day already since he'd retrieved Shindou from Ogata's apartment, and the boy's parents were still not answering the phone. The previous evening, the teen in question had stated that his parents were supposed to be back by now, but then again, it was obvious that the youth's sense of time was still rather muddied.

The previous day, he hadn't been able to get that much more out of the boy, since the child had slept most of the afternoon away and his wife wouldn't allow him to wake him. He'd been frustrated, but she'd insisted that if they let the boy rest a little longer he was sure to be more co-operative. He'd then contemplated the possibility that Shindou might be more willing to talk with someone his own age, but after witnessing his son's stiffness around the other youth when he had returned home the previous evening, that idea had been abandoned. Today, though, he was going to have to force the issue either way.

It was past midday, and his wife was seeing to it that their guest ate properly – they'd managed to include eggs and small servings of rice with his meals – and a proper bath. The teen would probably still only take two meals a day for a while and sleep more than the normal amount while he regained his strength, but at least he didn't look like death warmed over any longer. It helped that his bruises were starting to fade, too, and the marks on his wrists and ankles didn't look quite so inflamed anymore.

A shuffle of sounds at the entrance heralded his son's return home. He opened the door to the study room to greet the teen as he walked past. "Welcome home. You're back earlier than I expected."

"Hello father. Yes, my match went rather quickly today. And I heard that Amano was nearby, so…" His son looked faintly embarrassed, obviously not wanting to admit that he'd done his best to sneak out as quickly as possible to avoid another interview. No surprise – Kouyo was forever reminding his son the importance of being polite and dutiful to his fans and the press. All the same, he could understand Akira wanting to avoid them. He was only regretful that his own retirement had caused undue turbulence in his son's day-to-day activities. It was surely already hard enough for the teen, forever being compared to his father and accused of riding on the coattails of another's success. It was a shame that he had to work twice as hard to prove his credibility.

"I see. Your mother is in the kitchen if you haven't had lunch yet."

"I grabbed a bite on the way home. Is Shindou…?"

"He's still here, yes."

"Did you find out anything more?" his son pressed.

The retired pro shook his head. "He's still not in the best of health. I am hoping that once he has finished eating lunch, he will be willing to speak."

As though summoned, the sho-dan shuffled down the hallway towards them at that moment, pausing briefly when he caught sight of his rival. "Oh, um, hello."

"Hello," Akira replied, though his voice sounded somewhat distant.

"Ah, Shindou, finished eating already? I was hoping I could try speaking with you again. Please, come in and take a seat," the former Meijin urged, moving back into the study room. The teen followed him a little reluctantly, and Akira hovered by the door.

"I… I'm sorry about yesterday," Shindou muttered, averting his eyes as he sank to his knees on one of the cushions. The former pro still couldn't quite reconcile the image of this skittish child with the rowdy teen he'd encountered before. "I'm still not entirely… I still keep thinking this isn't real, you see… that I might just be imagining it. I… I had a lot of dreams like that. It got a bit confusing towards the end. But I'm pretty sure now."

"Glad to hear it. I am sorry to press what is obviously a difficult matter for you to speak about, but you really do need to explain things to someone."

The sho-dan hung his head, twiddling his fingers, eyes continually darting off to the side. "It's just, well… it really is very complicated and I don't want people leaping to conclusions and I was worried that if I said the same thing… I don't want it to happen all over again…"

Shindou kept glancing at his son for some reason. Of course – the sho-dan wouldn't want his rival to witness his weakness. Even as an adult, the former Meijin could understand the sentiment. "Akira, please leave the room," Touya Kouyo instructed firmly.

"But, father!" The protest died, though, as Akira saw the sho-dan's growing discomfort. Lips pressed into a thin line, the youth silently stalked out of the room, shutting the shoji quietly behind him.

"So you are ready to talk, then?" The ex-Meijin asked, doing his best to keep his voice soft, as though he were talking to his son rather than another go-pro. There was that far-off distant look in the boy's eyes again, almost as though he were having a conversation with himself. It was always slightly unsettling when the child did that, but there were plenty of brilliant go-players with even stranger habits, so Kouyo remained patient until Shindou finally bowed his head.

"I suppose I have to, don't I?"

Sighing, the elder Touya replied, "You do not HAVE to... but this matter should not be ignored. Do you really wish the chance for Ogata Jyudan to try something else?" The youth shuddered at that, though he tried to repress the shiver by bunching his hands into the fabric of his pants.

"I cannot help you if I do not know the full story..." the ex-Meijin gently pressed.

Looking off to the side to avoid any chance of direct eye contact, Shindou remained silent for an uncomfortably long period of time. Again, the greying elder had that same eerie feeling that Hikaru was holding a private conversation, or perhaps planning his next move on a Go board. With that thought in mind, he was able to wait patiently until the teen finally found his voice.

"I... I don't really know where to start."

"How about at the beginning? How did you even wind up there in the first place?" he suggested.

Biting his lip for a moment, the sho-dan began hesitantly, "I ran into him in the street by accident, and he spilled coffee all over me. It was my fault, but he insisted I clean up at his apartment nearby anyway." He paused, then said, "You know how I, uh, know Sai, right? And how Ogata overheard part of what we were talking about at the hospital?"

The former Meijin had a sinking feeling that he knew where this was going. "Yes."

"Yeah, well, I said something that Ogata took the wrong way, and he got this crazy idea in his head that I was Sai. Once I'd cleaned up at the apartment, he confronted me on it. I told him he was mistaken, of course..." Kouyo felt as though the youth was suddenly talking too fast in an effort to cover something up, but he didn't call him on it. "But no matter what I said, he wouldn't believe me. He said he wouldn't let me leave until I admitted it."

The boy's voice dropped even lower. "That really wasn't so bad. I thought he'd eventually just get bored and let me leave, but then he tried to make me call my parents, to make up an excuse as to why I wasn't coming home. When he heard the pre-recorded message on the phone, saying that they were overseas, he locked me in the spare room, saying he'd let me out once I admitted I was Sai."

Kouyo resisted the urge to ask more questions or comment, knowing that this had to only be the beginning, and he didn't want to interrupt Shindou when the boy was finally talking about it.

"I kept trying to convince him that I wasn't Sai. After a couple of days, I managed to escape the room when he wasn't home... but my luck was so bad that I escaped just as he arrived back." The youth winced in memory. The elder surmised that that must have been the first time Ogata had actually raised his hand against the teen. "He made me play Go against him – he wanted to play Sai. He got angry when I couldn't play like Sai." The boy's words were becoming careful again, he noticed. "Then he stopped giving me food, saying that he wouldn't give me any more until I played like Sai."

He was beginning to regret even more his decision to not insist on a hospital visit. His initial impression had been that Ogata hadn't fed the boy properly, not deliberately starved him. "I see. So what did you do?"

"What could I do? I played a lot of Go. Then Ogata disappeared for a couple of days, leaving me tied to that damn chair... after my first escape attempt, he started tying me up whenever he went out," the sho-dan added as an afterthought.

That must have been the Go convention that was held out of town that Ogata, Ashiwara and Shindou, along with a couple of other pros, had been scheduled to attend. In a way, it was almost fortunate that the sho-dan had already missed several matches, causing the Institute to make some changes at the last minute. He supposed that in addition to delaying the boy's current matches, it might be prudent of him to talk to some people at the Institute to ensure that circumstances beyond the youth's control didn't alter future allocation of assignments. He resolved to make a personal trip to the Institute as soon as Shindou had recovered – you always received better results in person than on the phone. That was approaching the end of the second week, Kouyo gauged.

"I hadn't eaten for days, and I was getting desperate. When Ogata came back and we started playing again... I, well, I uh..."

"You did what?" the elder Touya prompted.

"I threw a bowl of go stones at him."

The former Meijin raised an eyebrow at that. Well, it was true that proper go stones were quite heavy, so it would have been an ample distraction, and it also explained the Jyudan's broken glasses and bruises when he'd turned up to the study session that time. The boy's expression only darkened, though, voice growing so quiet that it was almost a whisper.

"I nearly made it... but he was really mad. Really, really mad. He just didn't stop... hitting and kicking... he really lost it. Everything went downhill from there."

Shindou took a deep breath. "He started always tying me up after that, except to let me go to the bathroom, or when we were playing Go. Now I couldn't sleep properly OR eat... then Touya... that is, your son... turned up." He swallowed. "Ogata made up some story about finding me all messed up on the street. Touya didn't notice anything odd, and I was so scared of Ogata by then... I couldn't say anything, I didn't dare! But then I had the idea to challenge Touya to a match... I don't know why Ogata agreed to allow it, maybe he thought it would distract Touya from asking too many questions."

He shivered again. "I was terrified the whole time, that Ogata would see what I was doing. I tried to keep it as random as possible, so that he'd be stuck on the strange sequence of moves more than the overall shape... and I had to make the territory hard to count so that the game would be forced into yose... and... well, you saw the game."

"Indeed. That was quite impressive. I would enjoy discussing it sometime."

Kouyo was surprised to see Shindou smile genuinely at that, even going as far as to briefly raise his head and meet his eyes before ducking it back down again. The gesture startled him, and he wondered if he'd ever really seen the youth smile properly at him before then. Not even during the sho-dan series – the young teen had seemed tortured during that match, whereas most young pros were still bubbling with excitement at that point. Shaking his head briefly in an attempt to focus on more immediate issues, he prompted the youth to continue his tale, even if a part of him was reluctant to hear the remainder. To think that Ogata had been coming to his study sessions for so many years - it was difficult to view the other title holder in such a terrible light after so long, even though it had been his own suspicions that had led him to that apartment in search of Shindou in the first place.

"If I recall, though, that was only a little over two weeks in. I didn't see that match until some time after Akira was there. What happened in that remaining time?"

The youth still wouldn't look him in the eyes, but that didn't hide his sudden reversion to a poker face. "It would have been a couple of days after my match with Touya... I still hadn't been given any food, just juice and water. I was getting desperate, and in my desperation, I played a really good game. And I did it. I beat Ogata."

The retired pro watched Shindou carefully, noting the despair that crossed his face at the very memory. "By then, I wasn't even surprised when he wouldn't let me go. I just wanted some food. He did give me some that time, but then he was CONVINCED that I was Sai, and that I'd play as him only when I was desperate enough."

The young sho-dan wrapped his arms around his torso, huddling in to himself. "At that point, I was thinking that I only had to wait it out until my parents got home, and then someone would finally come and find me. But it got worse and worse. Ogata would only give me food every now and again, and even then I started throwing it up. I think that maybe he was hoping I'd starve to death... I don't know."

That confirmed that suspicion, at least. The retiree had wondered if Ogata had consciously considered killing Shindou to avoid having his crimes exposed. The

Jyudan was an intelligent man - he had to know that it was impossible to keep the boy trapped there forever, but after he'd gone so far, he might not have seen any other way.

"I think maybe he knew that time was running out," Shindou continued, as though confirming his inner suspicions. "He started losing his temper a lot more frequently, over little things. He'd lash out when I asked to go to the toilet, or if he made a mistake in a match earlier that day... the cigarette burn was because I made a really bad move. I... I... really thought... that I wouldn't make it. That I wouldn't be able to last." Voice cracking, the teen had closed his eyes at that point, but the go-master had seen the tears welling in them all the same.

The former Meijin was quiet at that. He recalled his own brush with death all too clearly - for just a few terrifying minutes after his heart attack, he had been so sure he was going to die. He'd had his family there with him afterwards, and the doctors had quickly reassured him that the attack was minor and that he would be fine. For someone as young as Shindou, though, to entertain that thought for hours... maybe even DAYS at a time, by himself... it was amazing the child was as coherent as he was.

They sat there in silence for several minutes, until it became apparent to Kouyo that the sho-dan had nothing more to say. "There is nothing else, then?"

Shindou shook his head. "No. It was just more of the same. You turned up at the door, and now I'm here."

"I see. Thank you for sharing this with me. It must have been difficult for you. All of it must have been difficult for you."

The teen ducked his head again, glancing off to the side. "I… I know you're right, about the police I mean. I'll talk to them. But if you could please not mention Sai's name in there anywhere… people might start thinking I'm actually him and… well…"

The Meijin nodded as he stood. "I understand." Shindou's odd panic attacks and lack of desire to speak on the issue made more sense now – of course he would be worried about a repeat incident if people were to start making connections between him and that mysterious NetGo player, even though it was highly unlikely that anyone else would ever go so far. Still, he was fairly confident he could relay the story to the necessary parties without having to go into that particular detail. "You look like you could use something to drink. Would you like some tea? I'm afraid we don't have any soda or coffee."

"Tea would be good, thank you," the sho-dan murmured.

"I'll be just a moment," he promised, leaving the room and heading down the hallway to the kitchen. Akira passed him going the other way. He nodded his assent to allow his son to know that it was fine to enter the study room again.

He set the kettle to boil in the kitchen, and read his wife's note left on the fridge – she'd obviously left to go grocery shopping while he'd been talking with Shindou, and hadn't wanted to disturb them. No matter – he was quite capable of making his own tea. A quick glance at the clock revealed that it was four in the afternoon already. What with everything going on, time had certainly flown by. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, some detail he'd overlooked, but just then the kettle whistled, grabbing his attention away.

There were several dull thuds and the sound of muffled voices at the entrance. Brow creasing, Kouyo set the kettle aside, cocking an ear to listen. Akira and Shindou weren't fighting, were they?

There was yelling now. It sounded like his son's voice. Growing concerned, he padded out into the hallway. To his surprise, the front door was wide open, but more troubling was the sight of Ashiwara heading down the front path towards it.

Ashiwara. For their weekly study group.

No… Surely he wouldn't be…

The former Meijin practically flew to the study room – the shoji was left ajar. He could hear his son's voice clearly now.

"Get away from him! Let him go!"

"Eh, what's going on?" Ashiwara asked as he removed his shoes.

Kouyo had no time to answer. He ran into the room, quickly taking in the scene before him. His son on the left, scrambling to his feet with a red mark on his face. Scattered cushions and go stones. And Shindou Hikaru, feet scrabbling for purchase on the tatami mats, pinned against the wall by Ogata Jyudan's hands around his throat.


	23. Discussing the Game

Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the delay! I was intending to update on Tuesday, since I did leave it on a cliffhanger, but I unexpectedly LOST THE INTERNET. That's sort of like going to sleep in the middle of a city and suddenly waking up in a desert. It's Murphy's law in the action – the very worst thing will happen at exactly the worst time! I'm uploading this from a net café. It smells like mouldy coffee.

Anyhow, thanks for your patience. Ah well, almost finished. Only another two chapters left after this one.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 22 – Discussing the Game

By Sinnatious

* * *

Shindou was clawing at Ogata's arms, vainly struggling to pry the hands clamped around his windpipe loose. His legs jerked as he tried repeatedly to kick his assailant off, but kept missing. 

The entire scene was too surreal. There was a wild look in the Jyudan's eyes, his expression twisted somewhere between sadistic pleasure and animalistic rage. "You BRAT!" he hissed. His voice didn't even remotely match the normal cool and collected tones they'd come to expect from the pro. "You vanish and I find you HERE?! What do you think you're doing?! Did you really think I'd just let you get away?!"

The sho-dan mouthed a response, then squeezed his eyes shut in obvious pain as Ogata increased the pressure on his neck, mouth open in a wordless plea.

Having temporarily being stunned frozen by the unexpected turn of the events, Touyo Kouyo at last snapped back into motion, rushing to the teen's aid. "Akira, go call the police!" he shouted. "Ashiwara, get in here and help!"

"Ogata?" the young pro asked, momentarily confused by the scene but springing to the former Meijin's side as soon as his reflexes kicked in. "Ogata, stop it! What are you doing? Let him go! You're choking him!"

The Jyudan didn't even seem to register they were there; so intent was he on his objective. "You've caused me a lot of trouble, you little bastard, and all because you were so damn stubborn! The very minute I turn my back-!"

Together, Kouyo and Ashiwara managed to pull the Jyudan away, forcing him to drop his hold on the sho-dan's neck. Shindou slumped to the ground, coughing and wheezing as he tried to get his breath back, rushing as far away as possible, though his wide eyes never once left the blonde man.

The Jyudan lurched forward again, practically snarling, but Kouyo reflexively struck out with his fist. It was a glancing blow against the side of the other man's face, but enough to knock his glasses askew and send the pro stumbling back.

The blow seemed to bring Ogata to his senses, who appeared to only notice his predicament when he adjusted his glasses on his nose, ceasing his struggle against Ashiwara who had latched back onto his left arm. Once the man stilled, the young pro released his hold, though Kouyo quite deliberately placed himself in-between the volatile man and recovering teen just in case he made another move.

"Ogata, what are you doing?" Ashiwara berated. "You could have killed him! Get a hold of yourself!"

The peppy brunette clearly had no idea that was Ogata's true intention, obviously mistaking his actions for a loss of temper. The Jyudan obviously realised this too, and the retired go player could practically see the wheels turning in his former colleague's head - no doubt concocting some sort of lie to escape the situation unscathed.

Those wheels ground to a halt as soon as the blonde turned his bespectacled gaze on him, however, and was met with the most chilling stare the retiree could muster. Ogata only had to take one look at his face to realise that his deeds had been exposed, and that it was time to resign.

Ogata never had been very good at resigning gracefully.

"You're just going to waste it again," he muttered at the sho-dan. "Wallow in mediocrity. He's making fools of us all!" The last statement was shouted at his mentor, vaguely desperate. Shindou coughed again in the background, shrinking against the wall.

"Ogata, that's enough," Kouyo said firmly. "Don't make me lose what little respect for you I have left."

"You know! Don't you? You know! You've played against him! Seen those moves! The Hand of God is in there, I know it! And he'll waste it!" Ogata yelled, somewhere between angry and hysterical.

"Ogata! Calm yourself! The police are coming," the retiree barked.

That temporarily stopped his tirade. "The police?" He glanced about the room furtively, growing visibly nervous. "The police," he repeated, half-gasping the word.

The Jyudan sent one last baleful glare at the terrified teen on the floor before suddenly bolting, running like mad for the door and disappearing out into the street, shoving Ashiwara rudely aside in his escape.

"Hey, Ogata!" the brunette protested, righting his clothes with a peeved expression. "Where's he going? What's WITH him today?" Seeming to remember himself, he crouched down next to a still-trembling Shindou, who was warily massaging his throat and regarding the now-smiling pro with a cautious eye. "Hey, you're Shindou, right? Akira's friend? I saw your photo with Touya-sensei in Go Weekly. Are you okay? I'm Ashiwara, by the way. Pleased to meet you."

Light running footsteps echoed through the hall, and Akira skidded to a stop in the doorway, out of breath. "The police are on their way... Where's Ogata?"

"He left just now," Kouyo replied, stooping to kneel next to the spooked sho-dan. He ran a concerned eye over the youth, then another over his son, gaze lingering on the red mark on his face. "How did that happen?"

Akira blinked, hand flying to cradle his cheek. "Oh, um, he got me with the back of his hand when I tried to keep him away... Is Shindou...?"

"He should be okay." Though the timing couldn't have been worse. Just when the teen had calmed down and opened up enough to relay his tale, Ogata had appeared as though summoned by his name. Frayed nerves took longer to heal than physical wounds, after all. "Ashiwara, could you please go help Akira get some ice for that bruise? And then please let the other study group members know that the today's session has been cancelled. I'll look after Shindou here."

Ashiwara, obviously having cottoned on that the situation was nowhere near as simple as he first perceived, nodded quietly and escorted his protesting son from the room with a falsely bright smile. "You'll be sure to tell me what's going on later, right sensei?"

"As much as I can, yes. Though that's not up to me to decide."

As the pair left the room, Kouyo turned his attention back to the traumatized youth in front of him. "Shindou, are you okay? Here, let me see." He gently grasped the teen's hand that was massaging his neck, wincing at the sight of the angry red finger marks emblazoned across the pale skin. They'd almost certainly bruise. "That looks painful."

"Is he really gone?" the sho-dan asked. His voice was thin and raspy.

"He's gone, yes. Are you injured anywhere else?"

Shindou shook his head slightly, fiddling nervously with his hands that were still badly shaking. "He came to finish me off," he whispered.

"No, that was just coincidence," the former pro player replied firmly. "I normally hold a study session here weekly at this time that Ogata attends. He merely reacted badly to the surprise of finding you here. He probably thought you'd escaped on your own and had returned home without alerting anyone. You don't need to worry now, though. I dare say he knows the game is up." Caution was wise, but promoting it in this state was more likely to result in permanent paranoia in the teen. Even so, he was mildly surprised that Ogata had even thought to come to the study session – surely the Jyudan hadn't honestly thought he'd escape the consequences of his actions? Come to think of it, when the police hadn't knocked on his door immediately, he might have grown bold. And you never could underestimate how far some pros would go to avoid missing their Go-related obligations.

The sho-dan was staring off to the side again, that distant look creeping back into his eyes. It was more reassuring than troubling by now, since Kouyo had started to notice that the teen was nearly always calmer and more cooperative after adopting that blank expression. It might have even been some sort of concentration technique the youth developed for Go.

Ashiwara appeared at the door to the study room again with Akira in tow, holding an ice pack against his face. "Police are here!" he announced in a chirpy voice. Sometimes it was hard to remember that Ashiwara was in his late twenties. "And I headed the other study group members off outside and sent them on their way."

"Thank you. Could I trouble you to stick around a while longer? I expect the police will want a statement from you."

"Couldn't get rid of me even if you tried!"

Only Ashiwara would grin and joke in the face of such a shock - and for him, the biggest surprise had yet to come. The retiree absently hoped that the betrayal the other go player was likely to feel wouldn't turn him bitter and jaded - he and Ogata were sort of friends, after all, even if the friendship did often look somewhat one-sided.

Kouyo spoke to the police in private first, outlining what had just occurred, and then delving into the history of the matter. They took notes dutifully, then one of them returned to the squad car, presumably to report back Ogata's description. Afterwards, they took statements from Akira and Ashiwara, then took Shindou into the kitchen to talk in private. They'd wanted to bring him down the station, but given the state of the teen's health and nerves, after a hushed conversation they had agreed to interview him there.

That left the other three go players in the study room. Akira still looked a little rattled over the whole affair, and in all honesty the elder Touya was not faring a great deal better. Ashiwara was mostly just confused. "Sensei, what exactly is going on? What on earth was Shindou Hikaru even doing here? And why did Ogata…"

Sighing, the former pro rubbed his temples tiredly. "I am afraid Ogata was responsible for young Shindou's recent lack of attendance at the Go Institute."

"Oh?"

Kouyo outlined what Ogata had been doing rather sketchily; mostly just highlighting the fact that the Jyudan was irrationally obsessed with the sho-dan's Go and had kidnapped him. He deliberately left out any mention of NetGo, and skimmed over some of the more unsettling details, but Ashiwara was still plenty horrified.

"Who would have thought… Ogata…. We've been playing Go together for years!"

"Believe me, you're not the only one who was shocked," he assured the younger man. "Though I would ask discretion on your part. There's not much that can – or should – be done to help Ogata, but I don't think Shindou would appreciate Go Weekly hounding him over this."

"Right. Of course." Kouyo didn't honestly believe that Ashiwara was capable of keeping even small secrets, but asking would be enough to stop him running and telling everyone he knew or spilling his guts to a reporter. It was predominantly why he'd left a lot of details out of his brief explanation. "Still… it's just… you're sure there's no misunderstanding?"

"He was choking him!" Akira exclaimed in disbelief.

"Right… right. I'm sorry, it's just all so much to take in…"

"I understand," the elder Touya comforted. "You know, this will probably take a while – you've given your statement, there's no need to hang around."

He'd partly expected his shaken student to protest and insist on staying, just to be involved, but to his surprise the normally spirited brunette just nodded weakly. "I think I might head off. You have my number if there's anything else you need, right? Don't be afraid to call."

"You assistance is very much appreciated."

"Right. Oh, boy, I've got a match tomorrow and I'm not going to be able to concentrate _at all_…."

Ashiwara shuffled out of the house, muttering to himself.

"Are you sure he's going to be alright?" his son asked.

"He's a grown man – he can take care of himself." Even though in Ashiwara's case, it was sometimes easy to forget. There were times when he believed Akira more capable. "I'm more concerned about you."

"Oh, I'm alright. It doesn't even really hurt," the teen assured him, poking his own cheek experimentally. There was a shadow of bruise forming, but it probably wouldn't become dark enough to be to that obvious.

"But I expect it has been quite harrowing for you also, all this upheaval…"

Akira shrugged but didn't meet his eyes. "It's been worse for Shindou."

There was something somewhat off about the way his son had said that, but he chose not to press the issue. "Would you like to play a game while we wait?"

"Sure."

The police stayed there questioning Shindou for a long time – the sun had set by the time they finally left, with stern reminders that they remain contactable and to call them again immediately if Ogata showed his face again.

The sho-dan at the centre of the entire fuss shuffled out of the kitchen tiredly as the two police officers left. They'd been very patient when he'd taken a while to answer, and had been nice enough, but the sheer number of questions they'd asked… it hadn't been pleasant, having to dredge up so many details of the whole horrible experience. They hadn't understood much about Go, so he'd at least been able to avoid of any mention of Sai's name, instead just saying that the Jyudan had thought he was a mildly famous player on the internet and wouldn't believe him when he'd told him it wasn't true.

"_At least it's over,"_ he thought to himself.

"_You did very well, Hikaru,"_ Sai encouraged him. _"Now the police will go catch Ogata, right, and you'll never have to worry about him again?"_

"_That's the idea, anyway." _The thought was pretty comforting, even though the spectre of paranoia lingered at the back of his consciousness. His nerves were still on edge, and his world had sharpened into focus, taking on an odd sort of hyper-reality that hadn't faded yet.

"Shindou, are you alright?" the Meijin asked when he entered the study room. Touya turned to look at him, then pointedly looked away again almost immediately.

He just nodded, then gestured awkwardly at the other teen's face. "I'm sorry about… you know…"

"Don't mention it," Akira cut in abruptly.

"Indeed, it was nobody's fault but Ogata's," the elder Touya stated firmly. "Now… Shindou, what would you like to do now?"

It was clear from the man's tone that he was asking whether he wanted to sleep, or eat, or bathe, or do some other mundane activity to pass the time, but there was only one answer Hikaru had to that question. "I want to go home," he whispered, unable to quite get his voice up to speaking properly yet. It hadn't helped matters much with the police asking him to repeat himself and elaborate on all sorts of odd details for what felt like hours, and by now it had become quite hoarse.

"But Shindou, when I called your parents weren't yet back-" the former Meijin began.

"I don't care. I want to go home," he repeated.

The two Touyas exchanged a glance. "But if Ogata...," Akira began hesitantly.

"I'll lock all the doors and windows until my parents get back. I won't answer if anyone knocks. I'll get Waya or someone to come over or something. I just want to...," his voice trailed off, and he found himself coughing. His throat felt sort of tender and swollen, and it kept closing up when he tried to say too many words in a row.

"_Hikaru, are you sure that's really wise?"_ Sai asked in a concerned voice.

"_I don't care if it's wise. I just want to go home."_

How could he really explain it without offending them? He just wanted to be home. He was tired of staring at unfamiliar walls, unfamiliar people and dreaming that he was waking up at home, only to discover that it was all another illusion. He wanted that dream to be reality already. He wanted to wake up at home, safe and warm in his familiar bed in his room with familiar walls and get life back to normal again so that he could start pretending it had never happened.

Touya Kouyo was studying him. He shifted uncomfortably under the gaze – the elder had a way of looking at you that made it feel like he could read your deepest secrets just from your expression. And who knew, maybe he could. Still, the sho-dan found himself hiding his wrists behind his back anyway – the man always looked so angry whenever he caught sight of the marks there. Never mind that they were healing quite nicely.

The Meijin would let him go, right? He wouldn't keep him here? He _couldn't_ keep him here. Still, he could feel the worry and fear starting to creep back in, and it took a supreme act of will to not bolt then and there. If they were surprised, he could probably get a head start…

"Tomorrow," the retired pro said reluctantly, just as Shindou was tensing his muscles to make a break for it. "If that's what you want, we'll take you back to your house tomorrow. Give the police some time to track down Ogata first."

Hikaru wanted to leave tonight, or better yet, straight away, but it was good enough. He found himself relaxing again. "Okay. Tomorrow… Thank you."

He could go home, and then everything could finally be normal again.

"_You're far from normal, Hikaru," _the ghost remarked, hiding an amused grin behind his fan. The comment was clearly meant to cheer him up, and his host obliged him with a very slight smile.

_"Look who's talking, Sai."_


	24. Playing With Friends

Author's Note: The internet and I have finally been reunited! How I missed its loving embrace. At last I can communicate with the outside world again and peruse stupid cat pictures. Sort of put a bit of a dent in my nice updating record, but at least I managed to hurdle past the remaining cliff-hanger before it happened.

Despite all the extra time the lack of internet gave me to polish this chapter, I'm still not really happy with how it turned out. Ah well, it was still fun to write, even though I already know from a lot of the reviews that a bunch of people are going to disagree with me. :) Last chapter only has proof-reading remaining, so it should be up as soon as I get the chance, which depends entirely on how much overtime I have to do this week. Either way, it'll be here by the weekend at the latest. Thanks very much for your patience, and all the reviews, too!

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 23 – Playing With Friends

By Sinnatious

* * *

At about ten the next morning, they caught a cab back to Hikaru's house. Akira had a match at the Institute, so it was just he and the former Meijin going. The sho-dan had tried to insist that he'd be fine by himself, but both the retired pro and his wife had insisted that one of them go with him to make certain he arrived at his destination safely. 

None of them seemed that happy about his departure, really. His rival's mother had expressed her disapproval even as she fussed over him. The woman had been aghast after the day's events had been related to her upon her return from the grocery store, and both teens had been practically smothered by her mothering. Hikaru, in a vain effort to show his gratitude, tried to make some small joke with Akira about it, but the serious young pro had simply averted his eyes and ignored him. Were he not a guest, the sho-dan might have called him out for being stuck-up and difficult, but there was nothing to be done about it. It was strangely depressing. He'd felt that he'd finally caught up to his rival, but Akira obviously disagreed.

When they arrived at the house, Hikaru withdrew his key from chain on his belt – thankful that even if Ogata still had his shirt, he'd escaped from the place wearing his own pants, as the very idea of the Jyudan having the key to his house was terrifying – and unlocked the door. He opened the door and called out, "I'm home!" experimentally, but received no response.

Turning back to the elder Touya, he muttered, "They're not home yet, but I'll be fine. Thank you very much for taking care of me." His words were accompanied by a deep bow.

Touya Kouyo just nodded, though still looked rather unhappy about the situation. "It's the least I could do. I somewhat feel partially responsible, as Ogata Jyudan might never have mistaken you for that net player if it weren't for the match you arranged for us. Still, are you quite certain that you feel up to managing on your own?"

Nodding firmly, Hikaru assured him, "I'll be fine. And I won't be alone."

"_That's right, I'm here,"_ Sai added beside him, seemingly unbothered by the fact that the former Meijin couldn't hear him. Hikaru hid a smile. The spirit tended to forget that others couldn't hear him when he was confronted by particularly strong players. And he had the feeling that the Meijin didn't mean having a ghost for company, either.

"If you're sure, then I'll leave you to it." The man didn't look convinced, but at least wasn't going to press the issue. "Make sure that you remain contactable. I will call again later this evening to check, if you don't mind. And please, if anything comes up or you need any assistance, call us immediately. We're happy to help you out any time you require it."

"Thank you for taking care of me," Hikaru responded formally, bowing deeply again. "Have a safe journey back."

He waited until the cab had turned the corner before finally entering the house proper. Kicking off his shoes in the foyer, he carefully closed the door behind himself and just took a minute to soak in the familiar surroundings. Taking a deep breath, he wrinkled his nose at the musty scent. He'd have to open the upstairs windows and air the place out.

_"It's good to be home, ne, Hikaru?"_ Sai intoned softly next to him.

"Yeah." And it was. For the first time in what felt like forever, he wasn't completely on edge.

There was a lot to be done, but the teen settled first for taking care of various routine tasks, like emptying the garbage - having to resist the urge to gag at the smell - opening up the windows to let some air into the house and cleaning out the food in the fridge that had gone bad. He was sort of lucky that the fridge and pantry had already been pretty bare before he'd been confined to Ogata's apartment, otherwise the task on his hands would have been much larger.

Even though they weren't pleasant chores, and tired him out more than he wanted to admit, it was relaxing dealing with such mundane matters, and he delighted in the normalcy of the drudgery. While his clothes ran through the washing cycle in the laundry - his own clothes again at last! - he sank into a long, hot bath to freshen up after all the cleaning.

Alas, his peace was not to remain for long, as when he finally emerged, clean and refreshed from his bath at about 3 in the afternoon, the trill of the phone shattered the tranquil silence. The sho-dan cursed under his breath. He'd seen the red light on the answering machine, and had purposely avoided listening through the messages, not wanting to face all the questions just yet. Still, it wasn't something he could put off forever.

Dragging his feet to the phone, he hesitated only for a second before picking the phone up off the receiver. "Hello?"

_"Hikaru?"_ a familiar elderly voice half-shouted into his ear.

"Heya gramps," he replied.

_"Where have you been?"_ the old man demanded through the phone_. "I've been trying to call you all week!"_

"Eh heh, sorry about that," he sheepishly replied.

_"And what's this my friends have been telling me about your skipping your matches recently?"_

"It's a long story gramps. I'll tell you later," he assured the elder. "How are you? How was your visit to Kyoto?"

_"Don't dodge the question!"_

"I said it was a long story!" the youth protested. He really didn't want to get into details with his grandfather just then – or at all, if it could be helped. It wasn't that he disliked his grandfather at all - they got along quite well, actually - but more that he really didn't want to talk about it again so soon. It had been bad enough having to recount the details to both Touya Meijin and the police the day before - he didn't think his nerves could handle a third retelling just yet.

_"Huh. Oh well, boys will be boys. I called to tell you that your parents are getting back tomorrow. They tried to call you a few days ago but you didn't answer, so left the message with me."_

"What's taking them so long?" the teen complained.

_"One of their connecting flights got messed up I think. You can ask them when they get there. They'll take a cab back from the airport, but you'll probably be at school when they arrive. You HAVE been going to school, right?"_

There was a commotion outside the front door, stealing Hikaru's attention away from the phone. "Sorry gramps, I can't talk right now, someone's here. I'll come visit on the weekend, okay? We can even play some Go if you like. You can have as many stones as you want."

_"Ha! Just because you're a pro now doesn't mean you should underestimate us amateurs! Have you forgotten that I won all sorts of tournaments in my day?"_ his grandfather boasted, but there was a fond pride in his voice.

"Whatever you say, old man," Hikaru responded cheekily.

_"All my friends are jealous that my grandson became a pro. Yumichigawa used to keep boasting about that one time he got to play Kuwabara Honinbou some twenty years ago, but he's had to shut up now."_

It was hard to imagine Kuwabara as anything other than ancient. Still, the spiel was one he'd heard from his grandfather plenty of times before, so he cut the elder off as politely as he could. "Okay, gramps, I really have to go. Talk to you later."

_"Take care of yourself now. And come visit more often!"_

Hikaru placed the phone back on to its cradle and wandered out into the hallway. He could hear voices arguing on the front step.

"But the windows are open! Someone must be home! We should knock first!"

"Whatever! How the heck did you drag me here AGAIN..."

"YOU dragged me here last time!"

He knew he'd told Touya Meijin that he wouldn't open he door to anyone, but he could pick Akari's voice out easily. Unlocking the door and swinging it open, he was mildly surprised to see that the other familiar voice belonged to Mitani. Odd, he hadn't been aware that he and Akari were friends.

"Can I help you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Akari actually squeaked at the sight of him. "Hikaru! You're back! You're actually back... what happened?" Her voice died off a little towards the end as she ran her eyes appraisingly over him.

He stepped to the side to let her into the foyer automatically, Mitani trailing reluctantly behind. Instead of answering her question, he asked, "What are you doing here? Don't you have Go club?" He was pretty sure it was a weekday anyway. His sense of time was still royally messed up.

"And don't YOU have school?" she demanded in response.

"We came here instead of Go club, since she was so busy worrying about you that she couldn't concentrate. Again, might I add," Mitani interjected in a bored tone, entire posture just screaming that he wanted to be almost anywhere else right then.

"Oh, um, sorry for the trouble," he offered lamely. Still, it was a little comforting to hear that he did have friends that had worried. In that dim, lonely prison, he'd started to doubt that anyone even cared. Even the memory of that place was enough to make his polite smile falter.

Sai, picking up on his emotional turmoil, commented softly, _"See, Hikaru? They did notice. They did care."  
_

"_Then why didn't anybody come looking?" _he responded a little bitterly, the warmth from the thought of their concern turning cold at the memory of all those hours desperately willing someone to come. Intellectually he understood that he had a bit of reputation for being absent a lot and wandering off without telling anyone, but emotions were irrational things.

The ghost didn't seem to have a response for that, instead opting to ask, _"What are you going to tell them?"_

_"Nothing."_

"_Hikaru, you really should-"_

"_This is my business, Sai. I can't tell them. They wouldn't understand."_

The ghost fell silent at that. Hikaru could practically feel the waves of disapproval radiating off his friend, but the spirit at least usually avoided passing judgement on his social life. It was a courtesy the young pro had never been truly grateful for before.

Akari was nervously fiddling with her phone. "Um... are you okay, Hikaru?"

"I'm fine, Akari, see?" he responded, offering her a sunny smile and quickly hiding his wrists behind his back. They were healing nicely, but to someone who hadn't seen how they looked before they still appeared pretty bad.

"Idiot," Mitani muttered next to him, fixing him with a cold, piercing stare. "What about those bruises on your neck? It looks like someone tried to strangle you."

Reflexively, his hands flew to his throat. He'd completely forgotten about those bruises. Akari let out a little gasp and snatched his right hand, pulling it towards her for inspection. So much for his plan of hiding them - that only lasted about five seconds. "Hikaru, what happened?! Why haven't you wrapped this?! It'll get dirty and infected!"

"It's on his other wrist too," Mitani added helpfully.

"Shut UP, Mitani!" The other teen just gave him a lopsided smirk in response as the girl tugged him forcefully into the kitchen, withdrawing their first aid kit with the experience of someone who had spent far too much time in his house. Only when she started unrolling the bandages did he catch up with what she was intending to do.

"Ah, Akari, don't worry about it, it's fine," he protested, trying to wrench his arm away.

"Don't be stupid! See, this is why I worry so much! You're so bad at taking care of yourself! Stop struggling! Yuuki, help me keep him still!"

With an uncaring expression, the other boy grasped his other arm to keep him from interfering, frowning slightly at the marks on his wrist.

"Let go! Just leave it!" he pleaded.

Mitani just snorted. "Stop being such a baby. You're lucky Fujisaki dotes on a loser like you."

_"Hikaru. Hikaru, listen to me. Just stay calm, it's okay," _Sai kept repeating in the background, but however much his friend reassured him, the sho-dan couldn't quell his rising panic. Logically he knew it was no big deal, but when he felt the coarse fabric start to wrap around his wrist, his struggles became frantic and with a strength he didn't know he possessed, he wrenched both of his arms free from his classmates' grasps and scrambled to the other side of the kitchen, eliciting an 'oof' from Mitani when he elbowed him in the chest.

"Mou, Hikaru, what's your problem?" Akari complained, crouching to pick up the bandage that had fallen onto the floor.

Hikaru was just concentrating on calming his breathing and racing heart, holding his arms protectively close to his chest. He knew he'd overreacted, but he hadn't been able to help himself. He liked the feel of air on his arms, and being able to move his wrists and fingers freely.

The other boy had cocked a calculating eye in his direction, and after a moment, laid an arm on the girl's arm when she started to advance again. "Just leave it. It looks like it's healing okay as is. Not worth the fuss."

Akari looked like she wanted to disagree, but gave up. "How did that happen anyway, Hikaru? Oh! You didn't try to... to... to yourself... you know..."

The teen had by now regained his composure and gathered his rattled nerves. "What? No... nothing like that. Just... it's nothing. Forget it. Sorry."

"_Hikaru?"_

"_Not right now, Sai."_

The three of them stood there in a silent stalemate for a long, until Mitani impatiently huffed, "Well?"

"What?"

"Are you going to explain where you've been for the past month?"

"…It was Go business."

"It was not!" Akari burst out. "I spoke to your friends at the Association! They said nobody knew where you were either!"

Hikaru shrugged, fetching some cups out of the cupboard for drinks, since it looked as though they were going to be here bugging him for a while. "Just because they didn't know about it doesn't mean it wasn't Go business. They don't know everything that goes on."

"But they said that nobody in the Institute knew, either!"

"So I didn't tell them! It was unofficial Go business!"

"You… you… what about school?!"

"I'll take care of that, don't worry about it," he assured her with more confidence that what he really felt. "Besides, it's not like I have to worry about getting into a good high school or anything."

"You're such a jerk," Mitani muttered. Hikaru diplomatically ignored him.

"Lemonade good for you guys? It'll have to be – I'm out of everything else."

They sat down around the table, Akari glaring at him even as she thanked him for the drink.

"So… what are the rest of the Go club doing while you're here worrying after me?" he asked in an effort to divert the topic from himself.

"Kanako's taking care of it," Mitani replied in a bored tone. "They'll do fine without us for a day."

"I can't believe you just didn't tell anyone! Where exactly were you, anyway?" Akari demanded, completely ignoring the bait. He'd forgotten how single-minded his childhood friend could be at times.

"I already told you: Go business."

The conversation sort of drifted from there. For about half an hour they sat there as Akari alternated between wheedling him for more information and then going on about what he'd missed in class, with Mitani only occasionally making a snide comment in between staring at him as though he were some sort of complex puzzle. That was until yet another familiar voice echoed from the front hallway.

"WHERE THE HELL IS HE?"

Hikaru flinched as Waya stormed into the house like a tornado, obviously feeling free to let himself in through the front door – which he'd forgotten to lock. Touya-sensei wouldn't be happy to know about that sort of carelessness, not after all the promises he'd made. How the hell did the other sho-dan know he was back, anyway?

Akari's phone suddenly caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned to his childhood friend with betrayal in his eyes. "You didn't."

"He was worried about you too," she replied defensively.

"SHINDOU!" Waya yelled as soon as he caught sight of him, then stopped abruptly. "What the hell happened to YOU?"

"Nothing," he replied sullenly. The backlash was already worse than he'd feared. It had been hard enough telling Touya Meijin and the police his story - but at this rate this was going he was going to have to repeat himself many times yet. It was hard to stop the spike of resentment coursing through him. If they'd been this nosy to start with, maybe he wouldn't have been stuck with Ogata for quite so long.

"Yeah, sure, 'nothing'. God, Shindou," Waya complained, mussing his own hair in frustration. "I run all the way over here ready to chew you out for leaving me to deal with Morishita-sensei all by myself and you have to turn up looking that pathetic?"

"Who are you calling pathetic?"

Waya poked his shoulder experimentally. "Look at you! Have you slept at all? And you're skin and bones! Were you on a deserted island for the last month or something? And what's with the bruises? You get into a fight?"

Scowling, Hikaru stood to go get his fellow sho-dan a drink, not answering the question. Akari helpfully added fuel to the fire.

"His wrists are all torn up too, and he won't let me wrap them," the red-headed girl reported crossly.

"You're a bunch of vultures!" Hikaru complained. "Can't you just be happy that I'm back?"

"HAPPY?! HAPPY?!" Waya half-yelled. "You've been forfeiting matches and skipping school! Morishita-sensei's going to flay you alive!"

"It's not like I wanted-" the sho-dan started, then cut himself off. "That's my problem. It's not like Morishita-sensei's going to be cranky at _you_."

Mitani kept giving him funny looks. What was he still doing here, anyway, if Akari really just dragged him along? Everyone was standing again all of a sudden, and Hikaru was starting to feel a little cornered.

"Yeah, but I have to deal with him when he's in a foul mood! Even Saeki's annoyed! You owe us at least a proper explanation, and it better be a good one!" Waya playfully elbowed him in the side, and for one brief second, his world exploded in pain. Figures the other sho-dan would get him right in the centre of one of his most sensitive bruises. Most of the rest of them were on their way to healing by now, but there was one on his side and one of his shoulder that were still rather tender to the touch.

"So, come on, start talking Shindou!" the red-head demanded.

Unexpectedly, his salvation came in the form of Mitani, who suddenly grasped the other boy's wrists and started tugging him away. "I'm tired of this. This jerk obviously isn't going to say anything. We've been talking to him for nearly an hour already. Let's go."

"Eeeeh, but Yuuki!" Akari called, scrambling after him.

"Just because you want to leave doesn't mean I have to! I just got here!" Waya argued. "Who the heck are you, anyway?"

"Mitani Yuuki. I go to the same school as Shindou and Fujisaki," the other boy responded in a droll tone.

"Whatever! Let me go! I have to pound some sense into this idiot!"

"Sure sure, just do it later when I'm not around, okay?" he deadpanned, dragging the other teen from the kitchen, with Akari hot on their heels.

Shindou didn't follow them, somewhat stunned by the sudden turn of events. At the door, Mitani paused, still pushing a protesting Waya ahead of him, and said, "Hey, you know… if you need some help or anything… you've got my phone number still, right?"

"Oh, um, yeah. Thanks," Hikaru responded, somewhat surprised. Mitani had made it blatantly clear that he didn't want anything to do with him after he'd quit the Go club so to say something that friendly was… well, unexpected, to say the least.

There were several thumps and more angry shouting, before finally the front door slammed shut and the house was quiet again. Shindou blinked, remembering that he was supposed to ask someone to stay since he had promised Touya Meijin. Oh well, too late now – and quite frankly, he preferred to be alone and paranoid than having to field questions he didn't want to answer from well-meaning friends. Maybe later, when he wasn't still so sore about the whole ordeal and feeling less jaded and confused over the affair he'd let them in on it. After a long silence which even Sai didn't dare break, he eventually finally wandered back to the phone. Sighing, he cast a baleful eye at the blinking message light on the answering machine, and clicked 'delete'. Half of them were bound to be from Waya anyway.

Outside, the trio of intruders continued on. It wasn't until they were halfway down the block that Mitani finally released his hold on Waya's wrist.

"What the hell was that for?" the red-headed sho-dan spat.

"Yeah, Yuuki, I don't understand," Akari added, obviously confused.

Putting his hands in his pockets, the other boy let out a long suffering sigh. "What are you both, blind? He's sick and injured. Not just his wrists, either – you both saw those bruises on his neck, someone probably _did_ try to strangle him. And didn't you see him wince when you elbowed him… Waya, was it?"

The young Go pro just nodded wordlessly, looking a little guilty now.

"Look, it's pretty obvious that he didn't skip school or forfeit matches because he wanted to. That's a good enough explanation for me. Hassle him all you want later, but wait until he gets rid of those god-awful bags under his eyes first."

Now both Waya _and_ Akari were looking a little guilty. "I didn't really notice," Akari admitted in a small voice.

Waya swore under his breath, kicking away a stone. "Now that you mention… you've got a point. But that doesn't mean I won't be bugging him about it later!"

"Whatever. I couldn't care less about what you do," Mitani replied with a yawn, starting to walk away. "I live this way. See you at club tomorrow, Fujisaki."

The pair watched the youth wander away with hunched shoulders. Akari smiled softly, whispering to herself, "Yuuki and Hikaru really are good friends after all."


	25. The New Wave

Author's Note: The final chapter at last. Thanks to everybody who reviewed – I hope you enjoyed reading this fic as much as I did writing it, even if I'm not personally happy with the end result. I think that even if it takes longer to write, I'm more satisfied with the end result when I put the extra time in to raise the quality. :) Ah well, it satisfied its purpose in squashing this one particular plot bunny for me so that it never bothers me again. So on to the last chapter! Some things have been left intentionally unresolved, as it felt to me like it was the right place for the fic to end, but I will say that I never intend for Sai to disappear. That destroyed the anime for me personally, which was part of the reason I itched to write a HnG fanfic in the first place.

For those of you who crave a bit more resolution, here's the secret crossover ending: Kira kills Ogata! (Half credit to Shizuka Sen for the idea). :O

Enough from me. Shoo, go read. And let me know what you think of the ending. I only get one chance per fic to find out.

* * *

**  
Caught In A Ladder**

Chapter 24 – The New Wave

By Sinnatious

* * *

Touya Kouyo flicked through Go Weekly, carefully taking note of the match results, picking out all of the names his of students and closest rivals to see how they had performed. His son had won again, unsurprisingly, and Shindou Hikaru had too. 

He'd been checking Go Weekly religiously for the past month, but no stories ever turned up about the whole affair. There was much ado about Ogata Jyudan going missing, of course, but given the normal hysterics of the magazine it was surprisingly toned down. The former pro suspected that Amano had contacted the police and the rights of a juvenile to have their name and information withheld had been imposed. No doubt the reporter could put two and two together, but fortunately the journalistic staff of speciality magazines tended to have more decorum when it came to minors than their mainstream counterparts.

That wasn't to say that there weren't rumours a plenty, though. They ranged from completely outrageous to disturbingly close to the mark - likely the result of Ashiwara not entirely being able to avoid passing comments - but apparently Shindou was being stubbornly silent in regards to any questions about his absence. The youth had a remarkable fondness for his secrets, and as such news of his return after his string of forfeits was limited to a small blurb containing an apology and a vague comment about 'unfortunate circumstances beyond his control'. There was no mention of Ogata Jyudan anywhere, though later another reporter mentioned the correspondences of the events in a seemingly innocent segue.

Still, ever since it had been discovered that Ogata had fled overseas – Kouyo figured he must have driven straight to the airport with nothing more than his wallet and the clothes on his back after the scuffle at his house - the news on that matter had dried up and there was only so long that speculation could sustain any interest in the matter. No doubt in another couple of weeks there would be some new scandal or some exciting tournament that would make people forget all about it, and Shindou's secrets would be safe. The former Meijin felt his lips quirk into the slightest of smiles at that. No doubt the youth knew that too. At times he wondered if the boy had told anyone other than him and the police the full story. Even then, he sometimes thought that even he probably didn't know everything.

It was no matter. At least the teen had told his parents something of the matter, given that they'd turned up on his doorstep with a fancy fruit basket and a stream of grateful words. The sho-dan hadn't come himself, though, which Kouyo found mildly rude, but forced himself not to be annoyed by it. It was probably something to do with Akira, anyway – his son acted so strangely anytime his wife brought the other boy up these days. Still, he was heartened to discover that the sho dan's parents had returned the day after he'd delivered the boy back home. At the time, he'd sincerely wished that the youth had stayed until they got back, but when he'd tried to insist on the matter, that frightened, panicky look had started to creep back into the child's eyes and he'd wound up backing down. Even the memory of it gave him pause.

Sighing, he folded the magazine up and put it away, casting about for something to do. Kurata was supposed to be coming for a game in a while, to make up for the one that had been cancelled a month ago, so he set about preparing for that, seeing as his wife was helping out at the Go salon that day and Akira was at the Institute so there was little else to occupy him. Even though he'd been retired for over three months now, he still wasn't quite used to having so much free time. Maybe a trip overseas was in order, now that the opportunity was there. It might be a good chance to play some of the Korean and Chinese pros he'd been hearing so much about. Maybe he'd even run into Ogata, so he could finally exchange some choice words with the other man. His hand briefly clenched at the thought.

About ten minutes later, a knock sounded at the front door, jerking the retired pro from his quiet introspection. "Ah, that would be Kurata," he said to himself, standing and making his way to answer it.

It was quite the surprise then, when instead of the portly 6-dan, it was a much shorter, two-toned haired sho-dan standing on his doorstep.

"Oh, Shindou, what a surprise to see you," he greeted, opening the door wide.

"Um, hello," the youth stuttered, playing nervously with the hem of his shirt.

"Are you here looking for Akira?" he asked kindly. "He's got a full schedule at the Institute today. I expect that he won't be back until quite late."

"I know, that is, um, actually, I was looking for you."

"Oh? Well, come in then. Tea?"

"Uh… yes thanks."

Touya Kouyo quickly prepared some tea in the kitchen, and brought it back out into the study room where he'd left youth fidgeting. "Please, sit," he said, indicating the other side of the Go board. "I apologise for entertaining you in here, but I'm expecting Kurata 6-dan for a game any moment."

"Oh, um, yes, that's right… he won't be coming. I ran into him on my way here. He was going to call, but I said I'd just pass the message on to you myself."

"Really? Well, thank you for telling me. It's to be expected – Kurata is rising swiftly through the ranks. He's quite busy these days."

Shindou looked a little embarrassed, but didn't comment. In fact, he seemed extremely interested in his tea.

Taking a sip, he regarded the sho-dan at length. "And what about yourself, Shindou? How are you feeling these days?" The youth seemed infinitely better than the last time he'd seen him – the shadows under his eyes had almost disappeared, and while he still seemed far too thin, he no longer had that unhealthy pallor and malnourished look about him. And of course, the absence of bruises helped too. Casting an eye to the long pants the youth was wearing despite the relatively warm weather, he wondered if the burn had scarred.

"I'm doing much better now, thanks."

"What about school?"

"I nearly got expelled," he admitted. "Apparently if you miss too much school, even in special cases like mine and Touya's, they can do that. I brought them copy of the police report though, and that got them off my back. I had to redo all of the tests I missed, but I think my teacher feels sorry for me so she's going on easy on the marking. There's rumours all over the place though. Thanks for keeping quiet."

"Not at all. I understand quite well how stressful the media spotlight can be, and given your circumstances, your reluctance to spread the story around is quite reasonable. Still, have you at least told your friends?"

Shindou chuckled weakly. "Oh god, no, the entire Go world would know then. It's bad enough that a few people have already figured out that my forfeits and Ogata's disappearance were linked. I keep getting harassed with questions every time I go to the Association."

The boy's ability to keep his secrets bordered on the remarkable. "Well, it is inevitable that some people will have at least a sketchy idea of what transpired. But I think you'll be safe from anyone knowing _why_ it transpired. And I heard you've won your last few matches quite comfortably, too."

The youth ducked his head, looking embarrassed. "I'm afraid that after playing Ogata with your life on the line… well, most of the lower-dan players just don't seem that threatening anymore."

It seemed like it was intended to be a light-hearted comment, but it caused the elder to frown all the same. "I suppose that would be the case." He wondered how much stronger at Go that horrible experience had made the youth. With difficult matches hinging so much on the ability to think calmly and rationally under pressure and maintaining control over your emotions, Shindou had acquired a lifetime's worth of experience in one short month. Kouyo imagined that the strain of a title match would seem like butterflies in his stomach by comparison. Being put in a situation like that when the consequences of a mistake were so much direr had forced the youth to rise to the occasion.

"I hope you don't mind me saying so, but I'm quite frankly surprised that after going through such an ordeal you would still want to play Go. Almost anyone would forgive you for not wanting to play again."

Shindou shook his head firmly. "Go…. I still really like it. I have many reasons why I play, but by now… it's become my life. It's hard to think of anything else I'd rather do." He clasped his fingers together, twiddling his thumbs. "And… when I was trapped in Ogata's place…… I admit that the games with him are something I'd never want to relive. It wasn't the games themselves I hated, though. Ogata Jyudan is – was - an excellent Go player, after all. That Go was some of the best I've ever played, even if it didn't really feel like it. It was only Ogata that I was scared of. If anything, it was the Go that kept me sane." The sho-dan gave him a shaky smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I have to say, though, Morishita-sensei isn't even slightly intimidating anymore."

The former Meijin placed his tea back on the ground, careful not to spill it. "Ah, your Master is Morishita 9-dan? I wasn't aware of that."

"Oh, he isn't my Master really… Waya – another sho-dan who passed the pro exam with me – started dragging me along to his study sessions with him while we were Insei. When I mentioned something about becoming Akira's rival-" The youth looked both embarrassed and apologetic at that. "-He pretty much decreed that I keep coming. He, um, seems to have a bit of a vendetta with your study group."

Touya chuckled at that. "Ah, yes, Morishita 9-dan has missed out on quite a few opportunities at the titles because of me. We were both rising through ranks at the same time, and frequently came into competition. I believe it may have become a thorn in his side. But rivalries in Go are a good thing. It gives many players an extra incentive to put in that additional effort. Even just from my experience with Akira, I saw how much his Go improved after meeting you."

"Yeah, Touya…," Shindou murmured. There seemed to be a slightly sad look in the youth's eyes, the retiree noticed. That was strange.

Then he recalled seeing his son's expression every time the game with Shindou at Ogata's apartment was mentioned. It seemed almost like resignation. As though he had finally conceded defeat – acknowledging that the sho-dan had not only caught up with him, but surpassed him before they even had the chance to play an official match. Akira had been somewhat depressed ever since.

So, it appeared that Ogata had left one more casualty in his wake. Akira had finally, honestly given up on Shindou as his rival?

The elder doubted it would remain that way forever – eventually his son would become ambitious and try to catch up again. But it would be a while before that game would fade in Akira's memory and lose its significance in the greater scheme of things.

Hikaru coughed, eyes wandering around the room. Kouyo recognised nervousness well by now – it was something he encountered among many amateurs and young pros when he met them for the first time. It was not, however, something he'd come to expect from the youth – especially after everything that had transpired. "I suppose I should really get to the point of why I'm here…"

"Oh?"

"I…. Don't suppose that you would play a game against me?"

That was a surprise. It wasn't uncommon for any pro to ask for a game against him, of course – and ever since he had retired, he had certainly received more requests than usual – but most of the lower-dan players assumed, quite rightly, that he would have no interest wasting his time playing against opponents that were so much weaker.

His curiosity was piqued, though. He'd quickly learnt that Shindou Hikaru was not the type to do anything without good reason, and despite initial appearances, he was not one of the arrogant pros that needed to be put in their place, either.

"Very well. Since Kurata isn't going to turn up, and Akira is out, my afternoon has been left free. You can play black. How much of a handicap would you like? Just reverse-komi?" He asked, handing over the bowl of stones and setting his own up.

"No handicap."

The former Meijin's eyebrows rose at that. "None? Are you certain?" Perhaps he was wrong in his assumption that the newly minted pro was not the arrogant sort. Even Akira, who was already beginning to challenge 5 and 6 dans – and winning – had only forfeited his handicap a little over a year ago. They used the reverse-komi in the sho-dan series for a reason.

The youth's hands tightened around his knees. Again, he wouldn't meet the elder's eyes. "I want to thank you… and this is the only way I know how to."

After that cryptic statement – after all, most would consider the former Meijin to be doing them a favour by playing a game – he didn't bother arguing the point. Besides, he had been very interested in playing the youth again after that unusual sho-dan series game, not to mention the one that had been played against his son in Ogata's apartment.

"Then by all means… though please don't spend so long on the first move this time," he gestured with a faint smile to let the youth know he was joking.

Shindou surprised him with a smirk as he confidently placed his first stone one space to the right of the upper left star point.

The first ten hands were nothing remarkable – but then, you often couldn't tell the difference between pros until further in the opening game, usually, when strategies revealed themselves and battles of life and death began. He knew better than to underestimate the sho-dan, so played cautiously, but even in his caution he found his stones ensnared multiple times, and it took all of his wits and concentration to break them free and avoid pitfalls.

They played at a decent pace, even without a game clock – about the same length of time as an average match at the Institute. Even then, the outside world seemed as though it ground to halt as they played, and the universe beyond the go board simply ceased to exist, the encompassing silence broken only by the soft chink of Go stones on wood.

Until, suddenly, they were only a few hands away from entering yose. The former Meijin could read ahead well enough, and knew with certainty that no matter which of the remaining paths he took, he would lose – by one and a half moku at best.

Touya Kouyo let out a breath he didn't realise he had been holding. "I resign," he said automatically, performing a slight cursory bow. He raised his eyes to appraise the youth in front of him.

There was no mistake. The pressure he'd felt in that game... it was the same as that which he'd felt in the Room of Deep Contemplation, and then again in that arranged internet match.

Shindou's eyes were bright as they roved over the stones, and he was surprised to see a sort of reverent wonder in their depths, even as they seemed to calculate every possible outcome or discover any weaknesses.

There was no mistake. Shindou Hikaru was Sai. He didn't know how it was possible, but there was no mistaking the play style.

It had never been any error or misunderstanding that had caused Ogata to imprison the youth. The Jyudan had known the truth, or at least suspected it, and when driven against the wall, Shindou had obviously finally given in and shown his true strength. And of course Ogata wouldn't have let the youth leave then. It made so much more sense than the sho-dan simply getting lucky. Even if the teen had been able to beat him in one game by a fluke, even the stubborn Ogata would have given up after a couple more games of the same.

Still, it was mystifying how the youth could have two different hands. He had never played the sho-dan that the Insei and other pros were familiar with, but he'd seen his son replay one of Shindou's Insei-era games in addition to that one played at Ogata's, and while the play style was extremely similar… Sai's game held incredible strength and experience, and his moves betrayed an unshakeable confidence in his strategies. Shindou's games, while having a similar approach, seemed more mischievous somehow. Younger. He had remarkable, reckless strategies guaranteed to devastate his opponent's territory, but not the confidence or finesse to reliably pull it off. It didn't feel as though it was a reserved play style of a stronger player, either, but more like how on would expect Sai's apprentice to play. It was confusing.

Then again, Shindou's match with Touya in Ogata's apartment proved how fluent at lying and trickery the youth could be.

"Shindou… this was," he began.

The youth smiled at him; a little sadly, he thought. "I can't really explain it to you, Touya-sensei."

"Why hide this skill?" he asked, folding his arms and tucking his hands into his sleeves as he regarded the youth across the board with a level stare. He'd already suspected, of course, but to have it proven to him…

Shindou rubbed the back of his head, glancing away in the same awkward manner he normally associated with his son trying to avoid admitting a wrongdoing. "I'm sorry – it's really complicated. I don't think that anyone else would be able to understand. And… especially after everything that just happened…"

"Perhaps if you'd been honest to begin with, Ogata would never have had the opportunity to do what he did," the elder man pointed out. He felt a little bad scolding the youth for something that wasn't really his fault, but felt it needed to be said.

He was expecting the teen to be remorseful or embarrassed, or at the very least offended, but instead Shindou just shook his head slightly. "It's just… after everything you've done…. I really don't want anyone to know," the teen blurted in a rush. "But I really do owe you…. If you hadn't seen that game and come to Ogata's place, I probably wouldn't be here right now. I've thought really hard about it, so… anytime you want to play Sai… Just ask. It's the very least I can do for you. My only request is if you could please keep it a secret."

At least it explained the oddness of the circumstances surrounding the planned Internet match. Still, the former Meijin couldn't shake the suspicion that he still didn't have the whole story. And it was weird the way the child referred to 'Sai' in the third person… but he sensed that treading any further into the matter would just complicate things immensely.

"Very well… I don't approve of you lying about your skill like this, but you clearly have your reasons. Thank you for the game. I'll almost certainly take you up on your offer again someday."

The youth smiled briefly at him, giving a quick but respectful bow before making to leave. He saw the youth out, exchanging no more words other than the usual pleasantries, despite his burning desire to ask more questions, to demand answers, to keep the boy there until everything was explained. He resisted the urge, though. After all, wasn't that exactly what Ogata Jyudan had done? Perhaps Shindou was not so foolish to keep his secrets after all. The youth had taken a leap of faith and clearly entrusted him with an incredible secret. The least that he could do would be to honour his word.

It was the Go that mattered the most after all, not the circumstances in which it was played. That was the entire reason he'd retired in the first place. Strange that a child his son's age would already understand that better than those who'd been mastering the game for a lifetime.

The mystery of Shindou Hikaru seemed to only deepen over time.

Touya Kouyo returned to the study room, staring at the board contemplatively. A brief smile tugged at the edges of his lips. It didn't matter. Go players liked mysteries. It kept things interesting.

The new wave was certainly going to be something else indeed.

* * *

Thanks for reading. 


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